


Somewhere In Between

by PompousPickle



Category: DREAM!ing (Video Game)
Genre: Character Study, Kinda, Love Triangles, M/M, Mutual Pining, Pre-Canon, Slow Burn, This is just a really really long string of metaphors at this point
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-18
Updated: 2019-12-03
Packaged: 2020-01-16 04:41:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 26,589
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18514120
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PompousPickle/pseuds/PompousPickle
Summary: In his first year at Shinonome Academy, Chizuru Maki goes out shopping for snacks. Things do not proceed as expected.[A story of Chizuru's first year and his blossoming relationship with one Mikage Asagiri]





	1. Prologue

Chizuru had no intentions of doing anything like this. He had waited an entire year to be old enough to enroll. He had spent that year training, working, and waiting. He had studied diligently and kept tabs on Jin despite their distance. He had even shadowed him at school, during trips over to Japan. All in preparation of being the perfect partner when he became a first year at Shinonome Academy. He had worked tirelessly to that goal, and that goal alone.  

Never once in his mind did he picture himself wandering pointlessly around Tokyo, waiting for Jin to be done with his dormitory duties.

He had demanded Jin let him come, of course. Jin was the assistant head of the Black Dorms, and he was already poised to become the leader. And when that time came, Chizuru had every intention of becoming his assistant, as was to be expected. So it only made sense to tag along, as both his attendant and his partner.

Jin didn’t see it that way.

He had suggested club activities, at first. That went over about as well as expected.  Chizuru was at the academy for exactly one reason, and bonding with his classmates wasn’t one of them. And he didn’t hesitate in saying as much. Dealing with them during class was enough for Chizuru, so he took to exploring Tokyo instead. Twice a week, for two hours. Afterwards, it was easy enough to tell Jin that he had developed a hobby, and that made Jin smile. So Chizuru would do it gladly.

He had been to Tokyo many times before, usually while on business trips. However, it was never his home. It was larger than Los Angeles, and it felt _heavier_ than Los Angeles as well. It was denser, where everything and everyone felt closer together. It didn’t make Chizuru claustrophobic, but it made him feel _foreign_. It made him strange and displaced, like a dark spot in a shimmering landscape.

Still, he didn’t dislike the city entirely. It was his duty to make it his home for three years, after all. And he would do whatever it took to uphold that. So he walked out of a Lawson’s with an egg sandwich and a bag of chips. He had yet to explore this particular shopping area. It was a slightly long train ride from campus, but it was a quieter area, packed with craft stores and older arcades. It felt worn out, compared to the areas around the glistening riches of Shinonome Academy.

Chizuru was especially out of place somewhere like this.

He frowned as he wandered the streets, casually looking around as he tossed the wrapper to his sandwich and started on the chips. His eyes caught a tiny shop, on the corner of the street with a bright red neon sign above it. The inside was practically bursting with color, reaching out from the cold grey brick that surrounded it. There were posters for different kinds of snacks and candies plastered all over the sign of the building, catching Chizuru’s attention fully.

He checked his phone, making sure he had plenty of time to get back to campus, and made his way inside.

\---

The inside of the shop was dazzling, but not in any way Chizuru was used to. He was long-accustomed to the Hollywood high life, and glittering buildings and high-end candy shops. No, this shop was small, his shoulders brushing against the shelves as he walked through. He checked row after row of cheap candies and junk food, all wrapped in neon colors and stamped with an impossibly low price on the label. Even the most common items were still ten yen cheaper than he had found in any grocery store.

He started pillaging like his life depended on it. He grabbed everything he could, like he could never come back again. Like he had discovered some kind of terrible, wonderful secret that would disappear as soon as he walked away. He grabbed every bag that looked interesting. Some that he had never tried, and some favorites that he wanted again. He gathered as much as he could in his arms, and made his way to the cashier, sitting behind a tiny counter wedged between a shelf of old toys and a few vintage arcade cabinets.

“Well, you certainly found a selection,” the old woman behind the counter chuckled at him. Chizuru almost felt embarrassed for a moment, before remembering himself. He had nothing to be ashamed of, after all. If they so fancied, the Ryugasaki family could easily buy this entire store with the snap of their fingers.

Of course, that didn’t mean he wanted the Ryugasaki family to know just how much money he was about to spend here on junk food.

When he didn’t respond, the woman simply smiled, the wrinkles around her eyes deepening into her face. “You have good taste. Sweet and salty. The makings of a fine young man.”

“You don’t know anything about me,” Chizuru was quick to fire back. He smiled, but he didn’t come to be analyzed by the counter woman of a cheap snack store.

She only laughed, ringing every item diligently as she hummed to herself. She finished, and revealed the total to Chizuru. He admittedly had not been keeping track of how much he had been grabbing, but the price was a great deal less than he had expected. If he wanted, he could easily go back and buy three times that amount, and still have his monthly allowance left over. However, then he would have trouble hiding it all from Jin.

He handed the money over, clicking his tongue a little as he did so. “How does a place like this even stay in business? It’s not much on the eyes, and the prices couldn’t be making you much profit, with this few people in the store.”

She sighed, but her sigh turned quickly into another laugh. “You are mostly salt, after all. Don’t worry. You could certainly use some sweets. Here.” She reached across the counter and grabbed for a candy bar, sticking it into one of his bags with a small smile on her face. “You would be surprised by how many people find charm in smaller spaces. After all, I keep this shop with the idea that it’s better to be rich in terms of what’s in your heart. Rather than what’s in your wallet.”

It was a nice sentiment, but a commoner one. He supposed it was fit for a commoner like her to say. However, as he left the store, he grabbed the free candy bar and peeled back the wrapper. He bit into it and chewed for only a moment, his heart picking up pace as he swiftly fell in love with the flavor. And despite himself, he smiled.

Perhaps commoners had some good ideas, after all.


	2. One

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chizuru's weekly routine is disrupted.

The second time he entered the store, there was a young family there, with their son picking out exactly what he wanted to spend his 100 yen coins on. Chizuru felt a little powerful as he grabbed all of the items he was debating on and bought them as well.

The third time he came in, there was older gentleman at the counter, talking to the woman behind about the arcade games. She seemed all-too-excited to explain to him every single one, and they both recounted their youth when they would play in arcades after school. Chizuru nearly punched the man as he waited to simply buy his snacks and leave.

The fourth time, there was a boy from his school there.

“Ah, Chizuru Maki, right?” The boy’s voice rang out through the shop, and the place was simply too small for Chizuru to feasibly ignore him until he went away.  Chizuru considered his options as quickly as he could, but found that there was just no easy escape. So he dug his heels into the ground, and spun to look at the other first year.

“Isn’t this place a little far from campus?” Chizuru smiled at the boy, no longer in his uniform but still easily recognizable. He was a member of the Elite Class, like Chizuru, with a rich air and an impossibly smug aura. “I wouldn’t think someone like you would even be able to figure out the public train to get here.”

“That’s because I didn’t,” the boy said with an easy shrug and a smirk. He walked forward, towards Chizuru, and grabbed a bag of fruit chews from the shelf next to him. He looked it over carefully, pressing up his glasses with one hand as he did so. “I took my motorbike.”

His classmate turned the bag over in his hands, checking out the price before putting it back on the shelf. He stepped even closer, forcing Chizuru to take a step back. He casually leaned forward, grabbing for the bag immediately next to Chizuru’s ear. He flinched as he did so, ignoring the sensation of a hand nearly brushing against his face. “I have to say, you really have an eye for dagashiya. This place is pretty great. Thanks for leading me here, Chizu-chan.”

That finally broke Chizuru, forcing him to duck under the boy’s arm and pull away from where he was standing. “ _Leading_ you? Were you following me? I didn’t know Shinonome Academy admitted _stalkers_.”

His classmate laughed, completely unaffected, and Chizuru felt something inside of him boil. It wasn’t like the counter lady. She had at least acknowledged his casual insults, raised an eyebrow and attempted to win him over with cheap candy. This glasses-wearing snake before him seemed totally unfazed. As though Chizuru’s words meant absolutely nothing to him.

“Not at all. I was on an errand the other day and saw you slip inside. I thought it was pretty odd to see a guy like you here, so I decided to check it out.” The boy pulled out his phone and checked it quickly, swiping away at the screen as he talked. “The fact that you showed up the day I decided to explore it though...actually that makes _you_ look like a stalker.”

Chizuru bristled, but before he could say anything, the boy slid his phone back into his pocket and laughed. “Either that, or it just makes you an addict for cheap food. But that’s not like you at all, is it? It certainly explains why you took the train here. You wouldn’t want to use Ryugasaki resources for something like this.”

Chizuru almost exterminated him, right then and there. However, he easily shrugged and brushed past Chizuru. He scanned the aisle quickly, his face brightening as he found what he was looking for. 

“Here we go,” he sighed gladly, grabbing for a bag of lollipops. “These will do nicely. Thanks for the recommendation. This place has some flavors I haven’t tried.”

“I had no intention on sharing my discovery with slime like you, you know. You really should be more thankful that I didn’t discover you the first time you followed me,” Chizuru huffed, heading towards the same aisle despite himself. It wasn’t intentional, of course. It was just a small store and the same aisle had some instant ramen that Chizuru was fond of.

“I already thanked you,” he responded casually, grabbing four more bags of the same lollipops. Chizuru clicked his tongue in disapproval, drawing the classmate’s attention. “Hmm? Do you have something to say?”

“Of course not,” Chizuru started, feeling something bubble in his chest as he gained an advantage on their conversation. He grabbed for his instant noodles and moved on to the packages of salted butter mocha. “I have nothing to say to you at all.”

Chizuru turned his head ever-so-slightly to glance at his classmate, and reveled in the way his eye twitched a little from Chizuru’s denial. He felt that bubble in his chest burst, exploding in the thrill of victory. Everyone had a breaking point, after all. Soon he could go back to his dorm and enjoy his junk food in peace, sure that this boy would never speak to him again.

Still, bantering with him felt a lot more satisfying than it did with everyone else in the school. Perhaps because he was simply so insufferable. Chizuru shook his head of the thought, gathering up the last of his supplies and headed towards the counter.

However, the other boy was hot on his heels. “You know, Chizu-chan…”

“I don’t ever remember giving you permission to call me that.”

“Ah, too familiar? If you like, you can call me Mika-chan in exchange.”

Chizuru didn’t have to turn around to know that he was standing right behind him, smug with that horrid smirk on his face. He gave in and turned around, glaring at him firmly. “And why would I call you that? ‘Mika’ sounds so childish.”

“But it’s a part of my name.” He shrugged, before staring at Chizuru expectantly. There was a long silence between them, before his classmate blinked with a realization. “You don’t know my name.”

Chizuru didn’t.

“Why should I? You’re in my class, but that doesn’t mean you’re particularly significant to me. You spend most of your lessons on your cell phone, so you’re not even a viable study partner. All in all, you’re perfectly worthless to me.”

“My name is Mikage Asagiri.”

“I didn’t _ask_.” Chizuru turned back around, handing the woman at the counter his wares and pulling out his wallet to pay. She smiled at him, as though she knew some kind of secret that he didn’t, and Chizuru found his hand gently running across his braid. She counted the money unusually slowly, glancing up at him every so often as she did so.

“I see you’ve made a friend,” she then said softly, quietly enough that the boy behind him likely couldn’t hear. “You are an odd bird, but I’m happy to see you found another of your kind.”

Chizuru’s grip around his hair tightened, tugging slightly. “He’s not…” Chizuru readjusted his words. “He’s _far_ below ‘my kind’. I can’t expect someone like you to see that though, I suppose. Have a nice day.” He smiled as he grabbed for his bag and started towards the door. The woman only shook her head, that same soft smile on her face.

“Anyway, as I was saying, Chizu-chan,” Mikage said loudly from the counter, handing over the bags of lollipops and pulling out his own wallet. While the lady tendered his purchase, he looked at his cell phone again, clicking a couple of things quickly before glancing up towards Chizuru. “There’s a mall in Odaiba where the fourth floor is packed with stores like these. When you’ve exhausted the selection here, you should check it out.”

Chizuru considered just walking out the door without another word, but Mikage’s words did catch his attention. He hadn’t considered that there would be other discount stores like this one. And he certainly hadn’t considered the idea that he would want a different selection over time. Perhaps his classmate wasn’t as entirely worthless as he thought.

Still, he couldn’t let him get the upper-hand.

“ _Odaiba_? That’s nearly forty minutes by train.” Chizuru didn’t particularly fancy the idea of spending that long of time crammed into a small space with filthy excuses for people. But it wasn’t like he could exactly tell Jin where he was going either.

“Yeah, but it’s only twenty by motorbike. Fifteen, if you drive the way I do.” Mikage shrugged, as though it meant nothing at all to take a near-stranger halfway across the ward just to go shopping for candy. He scooped up the shopping bag from the counter and swung it casually, walking past Chizuru and to the door of the store. “Just think about it, okay? I’ll see you in class, Chizu-chan.”

Somehow, the nickname was already getting less irritating. And the idea of riding a motorcycle was a lot more appealing than having to deal with public transportation. He shook off the idea with a firm shudder. It was too much to ask for a guy like him to play nice with anyone other than Jin. Even in the name of cheap junk food. He walked out of the shop, pointedly walking the opposite direction from where Mikage was heading. And he didn’t think about the other boy’s offer at all.


	3. Two

Chizuru didn’t particularly see Mikage any more or less than he did before meeting him in the shop. They both still attended the same classes, with Mikage always with his nose in his phone. They both went to lunch around the same period, and Mikage still disappeared to the courtyard on his own to eat. And both promptly left for their dorms after classes, without a single word to their classmates. Much less any word to each other.

However, Chizuru could have sworn that his eyes would linger on him sometimes. That he would make brief eye-contact with Chizuru, and his lips would immediately turn up into a smirk. Chizuru would turn away quickly, however, before he could confirm. He didn’t need to give the other boy any more encouragement than he already seemed to have. And he didn’t want to give Mikage the idea that he was still entertaining his offer.

“Are you interested in motor biking, Chizuru?” Jin asked him out of the blue, as Chizuru glanced across campus towards the road. He turned his head back to Jin with a start, blinking a little in surprise. Jin only laughed softly, taking his expression as a statement in and of itself. “You were staring at Asagiri. I realize you don’t have transportation of your own so I was wondering if something like his motorbike might be of interest to you.”

Chizuru went into a straight panic before the words even really sunk in. He took a step forward, so that he was only slightly behind Jin’s lead. “No! No that’s not it at all.” Even the mere _implication_ that Chizuru would want freedom away from Jin sent arrows through his chest. “Why would I need transportation when Jin-san has private helicopters at his very fingertips? I’m by your side all of the time anyway, so something like what that snake has would only go to waste.”

“Snake?” Jin raised an eyebrow.

“That’s what he is,” Chizuru shrugged. He didn’t need to justify it, nor why he was looking Mikage’s direction. He was a classmate, after all. Interactions were expected, even if they were entirely unwanted. Besides, Mikage was the only person who knew about Chizuru’s dirty little habits. It was only natural to want to keep an eye on him.

Jin hummed to himself thoughtfully as they neared their dorms. “I just don’t think I’ve heard you refer to anyone as anything more than a water flea. Snakes are significantly higher up the food chain. I’m impressed.”

For the second time in three minutes, Chizuru’s blood went cold. “Perhaps. But he hasn’t ingratiated himself towards me. I remain only loyal to you,” he reassured Jin. Though Jin’s calm smile and stern eyes assured him that there was never any doubt in the first place. Chizuru let out a soft sigh of relief as they entered the dormitory halls.  

“I’m glad to hear it. Though I don’t mind. Snakes often eat insects after all. If you want to become friends with him, I’d be more than welcome to it.”

It wasn’t a demand or an order. It wasn’t even an outright suggestion. But Chizuru was nothing if not adept at picking up on Jin’s cues. Chizuru wasn’t keen on the idea of having friends, but the implication of Jin’s words was clear.

Chizuru rolled back his shoulders a little, deciding to drop the conversation altogether. After all, it had nothing to do with Jin’s studies, or Jin’s needs, or his work as Jin’s attendant. So there was no harm in ignoring the silent request to go out a make a friend.

Still, the words lingered, even as they entered their room and started setting up for practice with the _yume_ system. He played them over and over again, trying to find the root of the meaning. He thought on Jin’s desires, and his intentions. Space was healthy for a young master to grow, after all. Jin had to pursue his own interests, and find his own independence. Chizuru had been taught this from a young age. And even though it felt like tearing away a piece of him to do so, he understood it.

He cleaned off Jin’s _yume_ mask and inspected it carefully, mulling over the words. A friend would only be a convenient excuse to give Jin the space he needs, once or twice a week. Chizuru reminded himself this as his brain tied itself into knots. Though on the scale of convenient excuses, he supposed one could do a lot worse than Mikage Asagiri.

\---

“I’m only doing this because Jin-san asked me to make friends. So you’ll just need to pretend we get along.” Chizuru laid out the groundwork of the relationship as clearly as he could, grabbing onto the spare helmet that Mikage had handed him.

“Jin-san demanded you make _friends_? Geez, what a meddlesome guy.” Mikage didn’t seem to mind, however, fastening on his own helmet and moving towards the bike. He saddled onto it easily, pulling out his phone as he waited for Chizuru to join him. He hummed to himself, as though the conversation were over.

Chizuru felt his eye twitch and his stomach clench. “Jin-san would never _demand_ that of me. He merely suggested it. It’s an attendant’s duty to be skilled at reading him.” Chizuru nearly grinded his teeth together as he said it. Jin was perfect, after all. He shouldn’t even _need_ to defend him in the first place. “Besides, that’s a lot of talk coming from an insect like you. Our very first meeting was you meddling in my own personal business.”

“And you like guys like that, clearly. So what’s the problem? You need a ride to cheap candy shops, and I need an extra body so I can pass the motorcycle weight limit on the bridge. Plus you get to make Jin-san think you’ve made a friend. Honestly, you’re getting the better end of the deal.”

“Ah, so your real motives finally come to light. You do know riding pillion is also illegal on the bridge, right?” Chizuru bit back.

“Oh? Is Chizu-chan afraid of the law?”

Chizuru climbed onto the bike, swinging his legs over and hovering just barely behind Mikage’s back. He placed his hands just above the other boy’s waist, trying to get a little bit of purchase without fully wrapping his arms around his classmate. “Just shut up and drive.”

Mikage did have a point, despite his insufferable attitude. Their relationship was more beneficial to Chizuru than it was Mikage. Mikage couldn’t get closer to Jin by using him. Many people had tried that already. And there was no social gain to be had by associating with someone with such a bad personality. He was only gaining someone to sit behind him on his motorcycle. Chizuru reaped the benefits in every other way.

“Mmm. You’ll have to hold tighter than that, you know~”

Chizuru turned up his lips in disgust, but the bike took off with a violent start. It ripped down the road, away from the academy and towards the more central part of the city, roaring at breakneck speed. And before he knew it, his hands were wrapped around Mikage’s waist, knuckles white underneath his gloves, holding for dear life.

\---

Chizuru swiftly learned a number of things from his first ride on a motorcycle. First, that he needed to wrap his braid around his neck to keep it from whipping around in the wind. Even with the helmet on, his hair was starting to become more unruly by the second, until Chizuru carefully took his hands off to loop the braid around his neck.

Second, was that there was a delicate balance to riding pillion on a motorbike. He had to shift in his seat every so often, feeling the minute friction between him and the driver. It was surprisingly warm, all things considered. He couldn’t imagine what it was like riding with someone in the summer. But he also couldn’t imagine a scenario where he would ever find out. 

Third, was that the view from the Rainbow Bridge was absolutely breathtaking.

Chizuru had seen the Tokyo coastline before, of course. He had seen it countless times from the Ryugasaki helicopter, coming into Shinonome Academy. He had no particular interest in going to the beach for anything other than training or accompanying Jin on boating excursions. So as far as he was concerned, sightseeing from a bird’s eye view was more than sufficient. It looked just like the beaches of Los Angeles, in the long run. It was the same ocean, just from a different perspective.

Seeing it from the back of a motorcycle was almost enough to change his mind.

Scenery rushed by him as the wind encased his body. Mikage changed lanes to be closer to the edge of the bridge, and Chizuru held onto him tighter to make up for the shift in balance. He turned his head just slightly to the left, looking out onto the island. Greenery stretched out before them, an expanse of trees in the middle of the water, fading into colossal buildings glistening in the afternoon sun. The landscape wasn’t uniform, each building carrying its own personality as they rode along the ever-winding bridge, tearing down the path laid out for them at abnormal speed. Chizuru’s heart was pounding, and a very small piece of him wondered if this is what it felt like to be truly free of all purpose and obligations.

And an even smaller part of him began to like it.


	4. Three

“Not bad, right?” Mikage tossed his helmet onto the left handle of the motorbike. He adjusted his hair and glasses, glancing over at Chizuru, who was taking off of his own helmet to do the same thing. He could only imagine how bad his hair must have gotten in the wind. “You’ll have to carry your helmet. I can’t risk anyone knowing that we rode in with two drivers.”

Chizuru placed the helmet on the handle anyway, turning his nose up at Mikage. “We can just say we came from Shinagawa.” He fiddled with his braid, wondering if he had enough time to go to a bathroom and readjust. He would have to do it before returning to school in any case, as there was little way he could let Jin see him with so much as a single hair out of place.

“You know, you have a pretty wide knowledge of transit in Japan, considering you get toted around everywhere on a fancy helicopter,” Mikage pointed out with a shrug. He started walking towards the elevator deck, pulling a lollipop from his leather jacket and popping it into his mouth. “Did you research this place before accepting my offer?”

Chizuru tugged at his braid instinctively, feeling suddenly very exposed. He removed his hands as soon as he realized it though, before Mikage could see and assuredly make fun of him. “I had to make sure you weren’t lying to me.”

Chizuru expected some kind of clever retort, or at least a dispassionate shrug. Mikage didn’t respond, however. He merely stepped into the elevator with his usual smirk on his lips. He hit the button for the fourth floor and pulled out his phone, the screen reflecting off of his glasses in the dim elevator light. He was enraptured with it as always, ignoring his company until the elevator hit the fourth floor.

Already Chizuru hated that damn thing.

However, before he could even ask what he was always doing on the phone, Mikage stepped out of the elevator. The mall opened up before them, washing the two over with its aggressive nostalgia. The entire mall itself was fairly new, with a glistening exterior and clean white finishing everywhere. However, as they entered the fourth floor, everything became polished cherry-wood and brown brick. The lighting became dimmer, less harsh than the modern lighting found in the elevator and parking area.

There were relics from the Showa era everywhere, from retro game arcades to a shooting gallery, to an old trick art museum. Still, everything was clean and well-maintained, like a mall playing parody of being from another time. There was something just slightly off about it, but Chizuru suspected that if he had grown up in Japan, he would find it all very charming and sentimental.

He glanced at Mikage, who was walking him towards a shop at the rightmost corner, just before one of the arcades. He wondered if his classmate was the kind of guy who secretly clung to commoner nostalgia. He blinked, not liking the strange twisting feeling in his chest as the thought occurred him.

“Hey, now that’s more like it.” Mikage pulled the lollipop out of his mouth and pointed at the shop, turning to Chizuru. He smiled at him, as slippery and as unreadable as always, and then he glanced towards the store. “Stop number one. Have at it.”

The shop wasn’t much like the tiny dagashiya on the outskirts of central Tokyo. This one was much wider and more open, more manufactured and commercialized. But that suited Chizuru just fine. There were tables laid out in every direction, covered in confections and fattening snacks. There were woven baskets hanging from the ceiling, filled with various flavors of chips that Chizuru had never tried before. He looked each one over, before grabbing them to try.

“Pace yourself. We still have three more stops after this.” Mikage laughed from behind him. Chizuru turned to snarl at him and tell him to mind his own business. However, Mikage wasn’t even looking at him. He was examining a bag of candy, holding it to the light as he looked at every single piece inside, as though buying it required a great deal of forethought and consideration. Chizuru laughed despite himself.

Chizuru decided the best thing to do was simply to brush him off. “All of this stuff is useless cheap garbage anyway. And those chews will be absolutely dreadful for your teeth. I hope they all rot and fall out.” He hummed to himself, thinking about what he wanted to grab next.

He turned towards the next shelf, and Mikage was standing there, holding out a bag of salami corn snacks with a smug smile on his face. Chizuru huffed, snatching the bag from the snake’s hands with a sharp glare. He looked the bag over, before deciding that it would in fact do very nicely. He spared one last glance at Mikage, whose smile had shifted for only a moment. Suddenly it was soft, and welcoming. Chizuru blinked and the smirk was back in its place, and he wondered if he had imagined it.

\---

After the second shop, Mikage suggested they go get proper food. There wasn’t much on that level of the mall. Only a French crepe café and several takoyaki shops. Chizuru had suggested the crepes, leaning on Mikage’s insufferably large sweet tooth as an excuse. In truth, he had never had street food like takoyaki before. He wasn’t opposed to it, but he couldn’t risk making himself look like a fool in front a guy like Mikage Asagiri. If he did even one thing incorrectly, he knew he would never let it go.

“This place is awful. What kind of French café doesn’t serve black tea? It’s incredibly pedestrian,” Chizuru sighed as he took a bite of his peach and strawberry crepe, neatly cutting each piece with a fork and knife before eating it.

“That’s the charm,” Mikage shrugged, taking a full bite of his rolled crepe, completely regardless of how much whipped cream was ending up on the corners of his mouth. He ran his thumb over his mouth, picking up the leftover cream before darting out his tongue, licking his fingers clean. Chizuru huffed, disgusted at the display. “The matcha milk tea isn’t bad though. You wanna taste?” He held out his bright green and white drink, the straw angled Chizuru’s direction.

He scooted back in his chair. “And pick up your germs? I’ll pass.” 

“Ah, so no secondhand kiss then. A shame.” Mikage sighed and pulled the drink back to him, closing his lips around the straw and drinking. “You know, set-ups like this are what keep dagashiya alive,” Mikage then said, changing the subject effortlessly, as though he hadn’t been talking about kissing Chizuru at all. “They might be a little commercial, but in the end that’s what is best for business. Shops like the one in Azabu are dying to franchises and convenience stores that can provide the same service at greater expediency.”

“ _Expediency_?” Chizuru mocked. “What are you, some kind of financial advisor?” He really had no interest in this conversation. What did he care if cheap candy stores were becoming a thing of the past? He only liked being able to buy everything he wanted in one trip, for a low enough price that he could stock up every so often without anyone batting an eyelash. There was no attachment beyond that.

“Perhaps,” Mikage shrugged again, pulling out his phone. “I’m just saying that it’s no wonder these places have to market the nostalgia of the Showa era. Reminding people of a simpler time is how they stay alive. There are only fifty or so left in Tokyo.”

Maybe Chizuru was wrong about Mikage enjoying the nostalgic qualities of the mall, he decided. Maybe Mikage simply liked seeing capitalism in an unbridled form. Chizuru huffed to himself. His classmate truly had a cold and wicked heart, at the end of the day. And that suited Chizuru just fine.

“I’ll just have to find them all before they go out of business,” he finally decided, taking another bite of his crepe. He cleaned the plate neatly, daintily eating every bite and sparing not a single crumb, as he had been trained. “Jin-san has allotted me plenty of free time, until the school term picks up and he needs me by his side more often.”

It was an easy enough way to fulfil Jin’s wishes.

“Oho, so like a game? Sounds like fun. I’ll make a map.” His lips were curled into a smile as he took another bite from his large crepe, glancing over to his phone as he did so.

Chizuru only rolled his eyes. “That’s absolutely childish. Besides, you would just ruin the game by looking everything up on your phone, you pathetic technology addict.”

Once again, Mikage remained entirely unaffected, a single eyebrow raising in response to his classmate’s sharp tongue. “Not if we make a gamble out of it.” He looked up, pushing the phone away from him a little, and placing what was left of his crepe down onto a small napkin. He stared directly at Chizuru, his eyes suddenly remarkably focused, like the mere thrill of a wager drew his full attention. “What about it? We make a map, and whoever finds the most by the end of the year gets a favor from the loser. Sound fair, Chizu-chan?”

Something stirred in the pit of Chizuru’s stomach, making him instantly regret choosing something so sickeningly sweet as crepes. There was something that felt oddly foreboding about owing a favor to a person like Mikage Asagiri. He couldn’t quite place it, but he wasn’t one to back down from a challenge either. So long as it didn’t pull him from his work and from Jin’s side more than strictly necessary, he was willing to knock his classmate down a few pegs. “Fine. On a single condition.”

Mikage grabbed for his crepe again, taking a large bite and then popping the final piece into his mouth. Almost before he was even finished swallowing, he reached into his bag and pulled out a lollipop to put into his mouth. “Bets don’t come with conditions. That’s the whole point of gambling.”

Chizuru ignored him, glaring holes into him as he kept steady eye-contact. “Teach me how to ride a motorcycle.”

Mikage smirked around the stick of his lollipop.


	5. Four

The rules of the game were pretty simple: Mikage downloaded a map onto his phone of the Tokyo Metropolis, and built an app where they could go in and mark a new dagashiya whenever they found one. After marking it on the phone, the other party would go to the shop and confirm. Of course, to make the process faster, Mikage just suggested they go and confirm the places together. Chizuru huffed at the suggestion, insisting he was too busy with Jin to make time for every single one. Still, it wasn’t an outright rejection at the idea, especially if it meant more opportunities with Mikage’s bike.

“Move your feet back, until you feel your heel rest on the…yeah just like that,” Mikage smiled as Chizuru focused himself on the bike. It did feel a lot steadier with his feet closer to the body of the vehicle. He frowned, removing his feet and then placing them on the metal plate again, just to get a feel for the location on the motorcycle. To his irritation, Mikage laughed. “You’re doing great, Chizu-chan.”

Chizuru abruptly turned his face to the side, feeling it heat up instantaneously. They weren’t planning on doing much movement today, but he was still grateful that he was wearing the helmet, if only because the faceplate distorted the obvious blush on his face.

“Make sure your thighs are nice and tight around the tank,” Mikage paced around to the back, putting his hands gently on Chizuru’s waist to steady him out. To his credit, Chizuru’s thighs _did_ tighten around the center of the bike, but more in shock than anything else. “That’s perfect,” Mikage then said, his voice low and frighteningly close to Chizuru’s head. He kept his eyes focused, trying to block out any distractions. Even if said distraction was meant to be his teacher.

Chizuru ran through the drills again, practicing the hand and foot breaking and memorizing the feeling of the throttle under his fingers. He tried to keep his posture the entire time, already feeling the burn from holding himself and the bike in the upright position. Still, if he could train himself to be Jin’s perfect attendant, then he could train himself to ride a motorcycle.

“You know, Chizu-chan,” Mikage had snaked back around to the front of the motorcycle. He leaned over, folding his arms over the handlebars and perching his chin on top. The motion unsettled the bike a little, but Chizuru was determined to keep it steady. “You’re lucky I’m not the jealous type. Seeing a handsome man like you with your thighs wrapped so tightly around my bike. It’s enough to give anyone ideas.”

Chizuru jerked his head forward, head-butting Mikage’s self-satisfied smirk right off of his face.

Mikage moved backwards, holding onto his forehead and letting out a long whine in pain. The movement disrupted the bike again, and Chizuru clicked his tongue as he firmly maintained his balance.

“Ah, you two are having fun, it seems,” a familiar voice rang out, and Chizuru turned off the bike in an instant. He swung his legs over and immediately hopped off, running over to meet Jin in the middle as he approached the two in the back parking garage of the campus.

“Jin-san!” Chizuru chirped as he stopped on the balls of his feet before his charge. He pulled off his helmet and smiled from ear to ear, nestling the helmet in his arms and shaking his hair free. “You could have always called, but you still managed to find me in the massive campus. Marvelous as always,” It was a little embarrassing, to be found in an empty parking garage of all places. But his duty to Jin called, and he couldn’t let something so trivial bother him.    

“I’m sadly not that good,” Jin confessed with a small laugh, running his hand through his silky hair. “Issei had told me where you two were. You’re learning how to ride after all, it seems.”

“Ah, was Chizu-chan always interested in motorcycles?” Mikage approached from behind, saddling up right next to Chizuru.

“Not until recently,” Jin confessed with an easy smile, and Chizuru’s heartrate immediately picked up pace. He could only pray that Mikage wouldn’t take the opportunity to say something snide.

Unfortunately, he overestimated Mikage Asagiri. “Oh? Could it be that you fell for me at fi-ah!” Mikage shouted out as Chizuru grinded his heel into his classmate’s foot. Mikage hissed a little, before stepping just slightly to the side.

“I’ve been recently wondering if you’d like to try something like this, Jin-san,” Chizuru clarified. “I couldn’t help but wonder if you’d like to go off-roading with me sometime, once I’ve mastered the basics. I would gladly be your companion on the road.”

Mikage cleared his throat a little from next to him, and Chizuru dug his heel in with more force. It wasn’t a lie. Jin was the type to enjoy this kind of thing, and Chizuru didn’t particularly dislike the idea himself. Jin nodded, sighing a little with a warm smile. “That sounds fun.” Chizuru felt a smile of his own creeping onto his lips. “However,” Jin continued, turning his attention over to Mikage, who yanked his foot from underneath Chizuru’s. “I would like to speak to Asagiri alone, if you would leave us for a moment?”

The smile completely vanished from Chizuru’s face.

“But, ah…Jin-san,” Chizuru started, glancing between Jin and Mikage. Mikage looked as unreadable as ever, staring at the second year carefully before nodding. He bit down hard, with the audible sound of candy crunching, and he took out the stem of his finished lollipop.

“Sounds interesting,” Mikage finally said, stepping forward with his easy smile. Jin looked over at Chizuru, and nodded once. His eyes were warm, and reassuring, as though he didn’t want Chizuru to worry. Or be angry. Unfortunately, the second was beyond Chizuru’s control. However, he was powerless to say no to Jin.  

“Right,” Chizuru sighed, conceding with the request. “But do be careful when speaking with him. All of the hair product he uses is sure to attract insects and flies.” He waved his hand briefly as he turned and stepped away. He paused for a moment, wondering if he should try to find a place to eavesdrop. However, the parking garage was rather open. There was nowhere the two could go where Chizuru could follow discreetly.

So he waited.

He watched the two best he could, as they distanced themselves from where Chizuru could feasibly hear them. He watched their body language, carefully, and he stared at Mikage’s eyes, looking for any signs of ill-intent or betrayal. He kept away out of respect for Jin, but he was always poised to strike, just in case Mikage proved to be someone worthy of extermination. He could pretend that Mikage was his friend, but he could only abide by him so long if he intended on using Jin.

Still, there was no telling signals or language. Neither of them so much as looked at Chizuru, or anywhere but each other. Mikage looked relaxed, almost half-hearted, as he pulled out a new lollipop and placed it into his mouth with a small nod. Jin smiled at him, saying something else before bowing his head respectfully. Mikage reached over, and patted Jin on the back as though they were already best friends. And Chizuru felt something vile boil up inside of him, disgusted at the familiar display.

However, before he could step forward and do something about it, they were already back. Jin looked at him with intense eyes, studying him for a moment before addressing his attendant. “Chizuru,” he started, calling Chizuru immediately to attention. He noticed immediately that his hands were tugging on his braid, and he removed them instantly, resting them dutifully at his side. “I’ll be in need of your assistance at 4pm sharp for a business meeting. After, we’ll be be doing a live conference with the home office at 8pm, so make sure you take the rest of the afternoon to relax until then.”

“Of course!” Chizuru chimed with a small smile. Just like that, any threat of Mikage Asagiri disappeared. “I will be by your side the entire time, I assure you.” He thought about abandoning his lessons now to leave with Jin. However, he had to know what he had said to Mikage. And so for that, he had to linger a little while longer.

“I look forward to it,” Jin said with a nod. When anyone in the business world said that, it felt like a simple send-off. However, Jin had a way of passing forth his sincerity, with the sheer force of his charisma. Chizuru couldn’t help but feel proud, even as Jin nodded once to Mikage and walked away.

As soon as he was out of earshot, Chizuru pivoted on his heels with a start. “Start talking, you pathetic mosquito. What business did Jin-san have with someone like you?”

Mikage only laughed, holding out his hands defensively. “Oh wow, Chizu-chan is scary~” He tilted his head to a side with a small smirk. “It was nothing. I’ve been reviewing the stock report in the entertainment industry lately, so he simply asked for an update.”

Chizuru narrowed his eyes. The Ryugasaki family had a more than sufficient financial department on its own, without even counting all of their various sister branches and subsidiaries. “Reviewing the _stock market_? Honestly, I thought you were a better liar than that. I cannot believe I overestimated your tiny brain.”

In response, Mikage simply showed him the screen of his smart phone. The lollipop shifted sides in his mouth as he thrusted the phone towards Chizuru’s face. Chizuru was forced to take a step back, to get a better look at the screen. There was, in fact, a long series of stock reports on the screen, full of various numbers and account notifications. One started blinking green, and Mikage immediately pulled back his phone to check on it, as if drawn by the call. “Moving stocks can be pretty fun. You can make millions of yen in a single hour. Do you want to learn, Chizu-chan?”

“That sounds like a shady sales pitch,” Chizuru noted dully. He supposed there was no better snake-oil salesman than a snake himself. However, he did recall reading something about a wealthy young investor enrolling into the Elite Class, back when he was preparing for his own enrollment. He had pictured a dignified young man of immense wealth at the time, and promptly decided it didn’t matter. He certainly hadn’t imagined the lanky young man before him, looking at his phone through lime-green glasses and a smirk permanently stuck on his face.

Mikage only shrugged and went back to the motorcycle, phone still in hand as he glanced down at it, thumb tapping away at something or another. Chizuru sighed. “To think that this is what you’re always doing though. There are rumors saying that you’re always talking to some overseas girlfriend. You’ve tricked them all into thinking you have some kind of social life.”

He felt strange saying that. It was true, of course. Chizuru was never one for the opinion of water fleas, but it was his job to keep an eye on rumors and whispers, and to preserve the Ryugasaki name at all costs. Still, just thinking about it put a strange pressure on his chest, as though all the gravity in the air decided to focus solely on him. He regretted the words almost as soon as he said them, not at all wanting to hear his response.

“Hmm? But I do have a girlfriend,” Mikage said simply, and the center of gravity shifted down to the hollow pit of his stomach, leaving his chest completely empty. He couldn’t place the feeling for the life of him, but he wished he didn’t have to feel it.

However, then he looked at the smirk on Mikage’s lips, and snarled. “Your motorbike doesn’t count.”

His classmate sighed, putting away his phone and taking the lollipop from his mouth. He turned to his companion. There was a small twinkle in his eye as he twirled the bright green candy around in his deft fingers. “You know me so well, Chizu-chan.”

It was at that moment that Chizuru realized that he really didn’t. He knew so little about Mikage Asagiri, and he wasn’t completely sure why that bothered him. On some level, he knew it was because he couldn’t truly trust him. There was always something behind his smile, and he could never get under his skin enough to place it. However, on another level, he hated that he didn’t know the most basic things. What his interests were, why he enjoys investing in stocks, why he wants the top seat of the academy.  

He supposed it didn’t matter. Jin would surely defeat him regardless.

“Come on,” Mikage finally said, finishing his lollipop with another decisive crunch before picking his own helmet off of the ground. “You only have until 4, right? So we’re cutting the lessons short to go to a shop I found. I hate to rush these things, but I’d also hate to lose a wager.”

Chizuru clicked his tongue. “That wasn’t on the itinerary for the day.”

“Ah, are you my attendant now too? I’m so lucky,” Mikage responded in a near-singsong. He hopped onto his motorbike, but made no efforts to move it. He merely rolled back his shoulders, and motioned his head backwards, silently beckoning Chizuru to put his helmet on and join him. “Come on, you’ll like this one. Hmm, and if you’re a good boy, I’ll take you to an empty lot and let you practice actually riding.”

Chizuru had to fight the undeniable urge to walk over and kick the motorcycle and its rider down to the ground. He was certain he had enough irritation in his system to do it. However, he knew that if he didn’t give into Mikage’s childish bribery now, he would just get more and more ridiculous until Chizuru finally gave up. So he put his helmet on and carefully wrapped his braid around his neck. “Fine. Take me.”

Mikage grinned, and it was the last thing Chizuru saw on his face before he lowered the visor on his helmet. “Oh Chizu-chan, I thought you’d never ask.”


	6. Five

They had to walk to the shop from the parking area, but it was still faster than taking the train, Mikage had insisted. The entire area of town was older than what Chizuru was used to. Incredibly older. Chizuru looked around as they walked, and couldn’t help but notice the similarities between this place and the mall they had gone to. Only this place was real, a leftover relic of a time period left behind by progress. It didn’t drip with the polished inoffensive nostalgia that the mall had offered.

Rather, this place simply dripped with decay.

They passed by a few grocery markets and general stores, as well as some salons and old arcades. There were parts that had become overgrown. And there were places that look they were desperately weeded and washed, but no one could simply scrub away the past fifty years that marked the walls and walkways of the neighborhood. Chizuru looked over at his companion and couldn’t help but wonder what a famous investor was doing in a battered neighborhood like this. 

“Hey, looks like they have a little haunted house set-up,” Mikage said with raised eyebrows, pointing forward towards a building with bars in front of the windows. There was a large sign above the door, with the picture of a ghostly woman screaming. There were handprints carved into the stone of the building, and the doorway had tattered rags half-covering a welcome sign. “Wanna try, Chizu-chan?”

Chizuru’s blood ran cold for an instant before remembering that this was Mikage Asagiri he was talking to. And Mikage Asagiri was never serious about anything. “Why on earth would I want to be with you alone in a dark room?”

Mikage nodded his head to the side, as though weighing that response. “If you’re scared, you can just say so. I promise I’ll protect you.” He hummed a little, and for a moment Chizuru was wondering if he really was going to drag Chizuru inside. However, they simply kept walking, past the building altogether.

“Still,” Mikage continued with a casual sigh, popping his lollipop from his mouth. “It’d be nice to do something like that. My partner gets pretty freaked out about ghosts and stuff. That guy is pretty fun to fool around with, but you can’t really take him to those kinds of things.”

“You can just say his name,” Chizuru huffed. “That common-breed certainly does get worked up over nothing, that’s for sure. For better or for worse.”

Mikage paused just a little bit, raising an eyebrow in curiosity. However, the split-second passed, and he was walking again. “That’s right, Ryocho is your childhood friend, isn’t he?”

Chizuru coughed, surprise catching in his throat and nearly making him choke. “ _Of course not_. He’s just a long-time acquaintance of Jin-san. He sometimes even thinks he has the right to stand alongside Jin-san, as though they’re equals. He’s a little confused is all.”

“That sounds about right. But still, he’s the type to say ‘any friend of Jin’s is a friend of mine!’ right?” Mikage threw his voice out, trying to sound as much like Issei as possible. “So I guess you’re stuck accepting him as a friend.”

“Don’t put words in his mouth, or mine,” he spat back.

“Hey if I have to deal with him, then you ought to too.” Mikage took an abrupt turn to the left, following down the street. Chizuru wondered just how much further they had to go. “He has his eyes on the spot for leader of the White Dorm next year, after all. If your Jin-san becomes leader of the Black Dorm, then it’s only a matter of time before your paths cross. That is, if you remain his partner.”

“ _When_ Jin-san becomes leader, you mean.” Chizuru turned his nose up at the mere suggestion that the honor of going to anyone other than Jin. The second half of Mikage’s suggestion was even worse. “And what do you mean _if_ I remain his partner? I will follow Jin-san to my grave.”

“Hmm, I suppose,” Mikage hummed as he looked down at his phone, and Chizuru wasn’t entirely sure if he was looking for directions or simply checking stocks again. “If you win our wager, then sure. I could easily have your favor be becoming my partner in the next year.”

“Rejected,” Chizuru scoffed.

“Then the year after.” Mikage smirked, truly not taking no for an answer. Chizuru found that especially irritating about him, especially given that he put on airs like he didn’t care about anything at all. But at the end of the day, he supposed a guy like Issei truly suited Mikage. They were both meddlesome and incorrigible.

“I’m intending on advancing my studies,” Chizuru said simply. He looked ahead, seeing a bright green and blue sign clearly depicting the word _dagashiya_ in neon letters. He sighed in relief, thankful this conversation was nearing an end. The idea of teaming with anyone other than Jin made Chizuru nauseous. “I will move up a year and remain with Jin-san even after graduation. Leaving simple scum like you behind.”

“Ah, that’s just like you to say, Chizu-chan,” Mikage nodded, nearing the storefront. He paused, for a moment, and Chizuru unconsciously pulled into the front, leaving Mikage lagging behind him. “I envy that,” he said, his voice almost so low that Chizuru wasn’t entirely sure he heard correctly.

He almost turned around, wondering if he should ask for some kind of clarification.  He couldn’t have heard correctly. After all, there was nothing to envy about an attendant with a bad personality. His heart felt heavy, if only for a long second, as though something were pressing down through his lungs. He shook it from his thoughts, pushing open the door to the dagashiya and letting Mikage’s words fade into meaninglessness.


	7. Six

Days turned into weeks, and the term quickly fell into summer. June in Tokyo, Chizuru quickly learned, was stifling. The humidity was almost unbearable, even in comparison to the heat of Los Angeles. And that did not even _begin_ to cover the amount of bugs that crawled out of the woodwork in the blooming summer heat. Fortunately, Shinonome Academy was dedicated to the comfort of its students, and had state-of-the-art air-conditioning installed in every corner of the academy.

So he could not, for the life of him, figure out why Mikage still insisted on eating his lunch outdoors.

“Can you even _see_ your phone screen in this awful glaring sunlight?” Chizuru hissed as he approached his classmate. Mikage was perched underneath a tree, lollipop dangling between his lips as always, staring at his phone with mild interest before Chizuru stopped at his feet.

He looked up over the rim of his glasses, before finally adjusting his chin to look up at Chizuru directly. “That’s why I’m sitting in the shade,” the boy said simply before returning back to his phone.

Chizuru huffed. He didn’t need Mikage’s blunt observations, as though he were trying to make him feel like an idiot. He really didn’t need _anything_ except to say his piece and head back indoors, where both the cool air and Jin were waiting for him. However, he could only kick Mikage in the ankles, drawing his gaze back to Chizuru again.

He hated how irritated he got when Mikage’s attention was on anything but him.

Mikage looked at him for a long moment, smile curling around the stick of his lollipop. “Chizu-chan, you’re going to scare away the cute little kitten I’m waiting for.”

Chizuru blinked. He hadn’t seen Mikage ever philandering around with the female students, but that didn’t mean it didn’t happen. He certainly had plenty of slimy qualities; he wouldn’t be entirely surprised if the boy was no different than Hanabusa. He opened his mouth to say as much. However, before he could, he heard a rustling from the bushes, and Mikage’s attention was lost once again.

“Hmm, there she is.” Mikage picked himself up, grabbing over for his empty lunch box, with some scraps left in the container. He walked over to the bushes, glancing back at Chizuru before placing the box down. Chizuru blinked, a little in surprise, as a grey cat climbed out of the bush. She pushed her way to the box, sniffing at it gently before Mikage pulled it back again, coaxing the cat out.

He lured the animal with almost _casual_ interest, but the cat followed, completely trusting. It was clear that Mikage had been at this for a while. Either that, or he was the kind of person that animals seemed to instinctively trust. Chizuru snorted, doubting that was the case.

However, even that small sound startled the creature. She jolted, and began to move backwards before Mikage placed his hand forward, gently pushing it against the cat’s head. “I know, Chizu-chan is scary. Lots of people think that way. But he’s not so bad. Come here, I’ll show you.”

The cat didn’t move on his command, but she also did not put up a fight when Mikage moved to pick her up. For a stray, she was very nearly domesticated by the student. He cradled her in his arms for a moment, before moving towards Chizuru. “Do you like cats, Chizu-chan?”

Chizuru scoffed, but didn’t back away. Soon, Mikage was directly in front of him, extending his arms so that Chizuru could pet the cat. He reached out his hand, despite himself, and rubbed her ears for just a moment. “She’s a mange-riddled stray with a clipped ear,” he pointed out, and Mikage only shrugged. Chizuru moved his hand to her chin, rolling his eyes a little as she happily allowed his affections. “And she’s being overfed, you know. She’s getting too content to be around humans.”

“Ah, you’re probably right,” Mikage smiled, just a little, looking down at the cat in his arms before glancing back up. “After all, that guy is probably feeding her too.”

Chizuru raised an eyebrow. “That guy?” He looked up towards Mikage, only to notice that he wasn’t looking at Chizuru at all. He was glancing far away, across the lawn. There, Shion Mikekado stood, glancing around and looking through bushes. He glanced over one bush, brushing his long hair from his face, tucking it behind his ear with the natural grace that only the diva of the school could truly possess.

Chizuru felt his lip turn up involuntarily at the sight. He didn’t dislike Shion. At least, he didn’t dislike him more than anybody else. So he couldn’t entirely explain why the idea of him and Mikage taking care of the same stray cat together sent ice pricks through his veins. It didn’t concern him at all.

“There ya go, Kitty,” Mikage said with a satisfied hum, bending over to place the stray down. The cat jumped from his arms, all too eager to escape for his second lunch. “Tell Mike-chan I said hello, would you?” He smirked just a little, watching the cat trot off towards the other first year.

“You’re a terrible owner, you know that, right?” Chizuru clicked his tongue, wondering just how fat that poor cat would become by the end of the year, with two people taking care of it.

“I’m not her owner at all,” Mikage said casually. However, his eyes were still following Shion as he spoke, watching carefully as he bent down to feed the cat for himself. Chizuru glanced over despite himself, watching Shion smile as he reached over to rub the same ears that Chizuru himself had just pet. “Cats are entirely free creatures. They can be tamed, but never truly tied down. Their loyalty is entirely dependent on what makes life easiest for them. It’s a rare kind of freedom. Few other animals can claim it.”

And just like that, Mikage was back to his phone. He spun around on his heels, nose deep into his stock trading as he walked back to his spot underneath the tree. Chizuru removed his hands from his braid, realizing all at once that he was tugging on it as Mikage spoke. He stepped inwards, back towards Mikage’s seat, and cleared his throat. Mikage looked up at him with his lips tightened into a firm smile, and a single eyebrow raised. “You know, birds have the same potential, come to think of it.”

Chizuru didn’t care. Mikage was frustrating at the best of times; but right now, he was downright infuriating. The man glanced down at his phone, before Chizuru pulled out his own phone, leaning over to thrust it in Mikage’s face. Mikage looked up, shifting backwards before adjusting his glasses to get a better look. He blinked in surprise at the dagashiya map on Chizuru’s phone. “I found a place. So meet me as soon as classes let out for the afternoon. And please don’t waste my time like you’re doing right now.”  

There was a long silence between them, as though Mikage was mulling something over. He was looking back at Chizuru, his attention finally completely undivided. He bore into him with his eyes, and suddenly Chizuru wasn’t entirely sure why he wanted Mikage’s attention on him like this in the first place. “Is that all?” Mikage finally asked, the words dripping off his tongue. “You could have texted me that, Chizu-chan.”

Just like that, his hands were back on his braid. “Well I didn’t,” he snapped back, shoulders suddenly feeling remarkably stiff. “I took time out of my busy routine to talk to a water flea like you. The least you could do is show me a little gratitude.”

Mikage laughed, soft but assuredly. He looked back down at his phone, swiping away with his usual interest. “Thank you,” he relented, and Chizuru felt something lurch in his veins, surprised that he could get anything out of his classmate at all. “Hmmm, I suppose it’s a date then,” he said with a lilt to his voice, smirking as Chizuru jolted backwards at his words.

Chizuru huffed, fighting back the prickling of anticipation on his skin.

\---

As it turned out, the dagashiya that Chizuru had found had been converted to a bar a long time ago. It still sold the same cheap snacks of a regular store, but for the admission cost of an alcoholic drink off of the menu. The two high school first years frowned at the sign, and Mikage ran his hand over his chin thoughtfully. “Ah, that’s too bad, Chizu-chan. Of course, it doesn’t count towards your total.”

“It definitely counts,” Chizuru fired back without missing a beat, checking the store off on the phone app anyway. After all, the only requirement was that it was a proper dagashiya, no matter if they ended up shopping there or not. Though it _was_ too bad. Chizuru’s own supply was running low and with a yume live fast-approaching, he could use all the comfort food he could get to ease stress. “I don’t remember signing a document outlining the requirements of the shop.”

“It seems I’ll have to draft a contract next time I strike a deal with you,” Mikage sighed, pulling out his own phone to confirm the marker on the map. He hung onto his phone for a moment longer, looking through other applications before turning from the bar. “I suppose we’ll just have to come back when we’re old enough to drink. I’m sure you’re a sight to behold when drunk.”

“That’s awfully bold of you to assume we’ll still be friends in five years,” Chizuru brushed off the comment, spinning on his heels to walk back towards the motorcycle. However, after a few steps, he noticed that he couldn’t feel Mikage’s cloying presence on his heels. He paused, looking back behind him at his companion. Mikage was still, staring after him with a small smile, and his eyes soft as he examined Chizuru, silent and wondering.

And it was only then Chizuru Maki realized he had just called Mikage Asagiri his _friend_. And worse than that, he realized that he meant it.


	8. Seven

Everyone was staring at them, naturally. Chizuru had come to expect it, after several months at Shinonome. He never had much regard for water fleas, but it was good to see them all staring as Jin and his attendant made their way through the campus towards the training dojo. They were beginning to recognize them as the new rulers of the school, the future top seat and his valiant attendant. Chizuru took it in, striding right behind Jin as they briskly walked, talking into his cell phone in hushed tones.

“Yes, I could have messaged. But I would rather hear the data from the horse’s mouth, as it were.”

A long pause as they took a sharp turn around a corner, towards the doors to the academy’s sports complex. A female first year scrambled to get out of their way, and Chizuru didn’t even try to fight back his smirk. They had only done five _yume_ lives now, but already their bond had grown so powerful that everyone was forced to acknowledge it. They were even in higher rankings than a few of the third years.

“I see,” Jin’s footsteps faltered for only a fraction of a second, but it was enough for Chizuru to notice. However, he didn’t miss a step or fall out of line. He simply glanced up at Jin’s face, trying to read it for any signs of distress. He wasn’t entirely sure who Jin was on the phone with, but Chizuru would put an end to them in a second if it meant saving the man from despair. “That’s excellent news.”

However, his face remained tight, so Chizuru could only guess how excellent the news really was.

“Good work. I’ll be in touc-“ Jin clicked his tongue as the voice on the other end interrupted him, the warbled voice going on and on, nearly shouting. “Of course you’ll get your payment. Once the results come through. I’ll see to it.”

He removed the phone from his ear and hung up with little ceremony. Direct, to the point, and with all the air of a great mogul of the entertainment industry. Chizuru gave a small round of applause, clapping his hands daintily as they continued to work. “Some pathetic salesman begging on your doorstep to give their products a chance?” Chizuru hazard a guess, tightening his lips into a sly smile.

“Data analytics, actually. I needed something looked over, and I was checking in,” Jin explained with a long sigh, brushing his hands through his hair. Chizuru frowned, watching the strands fall out of place from their meticulous styling. However, he supposed that if Jin was planning on running through his tai chi drills today, his hair would get messed up regardless.

Still, it was unlike him to disregard his public appearance before they even stepped foot into the dojo. There was something on his mind. However, he seemed unwilling to talk about it, and Chizuru would never be one to pry.

So instead, he simply followed in Jin’s footsteps as they finally neared the martial arts center.

\---

“Chizuru, a towel if you would,” Jin held out his hand expectantly, as Chizuru rushed towards him after running through a set of forms. Chizuru disregarded Jin’s outstretched arm, reaching up to dab the sweat on Jin’s forehead directly, before moving onto the neck and arms. Jin sighed, but allowed it regardless.

“Hey, no fair! No fair! Jin shouldn’t have all the fun! Do me next!” Rintaro Kuma eagerly shouted as he bounded forward from the main floor of the dojo. He craned his neck upwards, as if to give Chizuru space, and the attendant had never felt more disgusted in his life.

“Don’t you have a mountain to climb, you insolent cur?” Chizuru spat out. He had met Rintaro once or twice, in the past. And he was aware that the boy was attending Shinonome Academy as a third year. However, he had never seen him physically on campus until the moment the two stepped into the dojo, and Rintaro announced that he would be the instructor for the afternoon.

“He’ll probably head out after this, no doubt,” Issei Torasawa said all-too-casually as he stepped forward as well. He placed a firm hand on Rintaro’s shoulder. “We just wanted to hang out with him for a bit while he was actually here, right?” He turned towards Jin, who had successfully taken the towel from Chizuru’s hands and finished wiping off the sweat.

He handed it back, and Chizuru folded it dutifully and took a large step backwards. “He knows a great deal about internal martial arts, surprisingly. It’d be a shame to waste his guidance while he was here.” There was a small smile on his lips though, betraying the slightest bit of fondness in his tone.

Rintaro laughed, before all of Jin’s words caught up with him. “Surprisingly? Internal martial arts are _totally_ my thing! It’s NUVS, after all!” He grinned, nodding to himself as though everything made perfect sense.

“N-U-I’m sorry I’m not following,” Issei admitted. Chizuru merely rolled his eyes, even though he hadn’t the faintest clue what that idiot was saying either.

“Necessary to understand the virtue of softness!” Rintaro explained while turning on his heels effortlessly. He made every movement flow as he walked, but you could still see the muscles move under his workout clothes, betraying just how much work he actually put into his craft. Chizuru clicked his tongue. “If you meet brute force with brute force all the time, both parties are bound to get hurt. That’s not very LCHJ, right?”

“In line with the code of heroic justice, yes?” Jin said, without missing a beat, following Rintaro back towards the open floor to continue their exercises. “You use to say something like that when we were kids.”

“Amazing, as expected of Jin-san!” Chizuru was quick to applaud, “You can so quickly decipher anything, even the ramblings of a listless buffoon.”

Rintaro only laughed, entirely unaffected. “You have a great memory, Jin! Let’s see if you remember all of the _tuisho_ and _sanshou_ I taught you too! Ahh, I’m curious. Let’s spar now, okay?” Rintaro rocked back on his heels, impatient and excited at the idea of finally moving past drills.

Chizuru shook his head sadly. He had done the barest amount of research before accompanying Jin today, and already he could see where Jin was coming from; Rintaro was not the type of man who made for the meditative and peaceful style of Tai Chi.

Still, Jin wasn’t one to back down from a challenge, rolling back his head to work out any kinks that might have formed in his neck. He rolled back his shoulders next, before finally giving a quick. “That’s fine. I’m no pushover though, Rintaro.”

Issei merely watched between them as the two boys stared each other down, moving to the center of the room to begin. He laughed helplessly, before stepping out of the way. “I’m not sure if I should feel jealous or not. Usually it’s me and Jin who get in these kinds of showdowns.”

Chizuru clicked his tongue with disapproval. “You’re lucky he’ll stand face to face with a man like you at all.” He said it under his breath, with no intention of Issei hearing him. Let alone striking up conversation with him.

However, his upperclassman was closer to him than he thought. He agreed with a single hum, before smiling. “I’m not sure about that. Tigers and dragons, right? We’re an even match, in blood and spirit. Many legends have told about things like that, right? Actually, there is a similar legend to how Tai Chi was founded.”

“I don’t care.”

“Ah? That’s too bad,” Issei shrugged, moving back to lean against the wall. Chizuru didn’t move a muscle, but the two were still nearly right next to each other. The attendant didn’t take his eyes off of the two sparring partners in the center of the dojo, pushing their hands against each other and pacing each other in a careful circle. “Those two are using those forms too, and everything. The crane and the snake.”

Chizuru stopped for a moment, blinking as he looked over at Issei. He had sunk to the floor, where he was reaching for a towel. Before Chizuru registered what he was doing, he stepped his foot out until it was on top of Issei’s hand, with his fingers barely around the towel. Issei looked up at him, in both shock and mild pain, and opened his mouth to speak. However, Chizuru removed his foot first in a hurry. “What did you say?” He tried again.

“The styles they’re using. The crane form and the snake form. It’s one of the root forms of the art,” Issei pointed out carefully, nodding towards the two as he shook his hand lightly. He then grabbed for the towel, still eyeing Chizuru as he wiped his face clean.

After he wiped his face in peace, he placed it down, the wary expression gone. And he continued. “I’m not an expert on different fighting styles, and I’m not a verified jack of all trades like Jin. But we study these kinds of things in kabuki. You know, forms and legends. They say that one day, while on his meditative journey, Chang San-feng bore witness to a crane and serpent in combat with each other.” Issei looked up to see if Chizuru was listening, and Chizuru quickly turned his head back to the spar.

He wasn’t interested, in any case. He was simply surprised by the mention, was all. He cleared his throat, stiffening his shoulders and deciding to simply let Issei tell his little story. If he wanted to prattle on, that was just fine by him. He didn’t have to listen.

“They say that the two were perfectly in balance with each other, with a constant flow of striking and evading. It was a contest of strength, grace and endurance, but never ceasing. The fight continued until they both grew too tired to fight any longer, leaving each other in perfect peace. The match was simply too even,” Issei took a long swig of his water bottle, but didn’t lose a single step in his story. “Chang San-feng was inspired, the battle reminding him of Taoism, and the perfect balance of gentle and severe. They say that the forms of Tai Chi come from this, the constant give and take of yin and yang.”

“You certainly know a lot for a simple actor.” Chizuru noted. He truly could tell a story though; he could see why people called him a genius on the kabuki stage.

“Of course. Legends are important! As well as the symbolism behind them.” Issei stood up, eyes fixated on the battle before them, still ongoing. Rintaro was talking the entire time, giving suggestions and correcting form. And Jin was receiving each one with vigor, correcting himself along the way until he could come close to perfection. It was a constant give and take, as Issei said.

“It makes sense though, doesn’t it?” Issei continued. “The crane and the serpent, I mean. The snake is entirely earthbound, coming and going from the underworld. The crane, however, is associated with the heavens, soaring through the sky effortlessly. They are the material and spiritual, the intellect and the instinct. The mind and the heart. They’re from completely separate worlds.”  

Issei turned away from the match, looking directly at Chizuru. He could feel the older boy’s eyes directly on him, and he had no choice but to turn and look. His expression was careful, and quizzical, far from the cheerful oaf that always seemed to be meddling in his underclassmen’s businesses.

“However, somewhere in between those worlds…” Issei trailed off, tilting his head in a way that made Chizuru feel entirely exposed. “Somewhere in between the crane and the serpent, the nature of humanity is born.”

Chizuru felt his eye twitch, hating the way his palms felt sweaty. It didn’t mean anything. It was a story told to him by a professional storyteller. The man was one set of makeup away from moving on a stage, spinning his tale for a crowd of elderly Japanese women. Still, he couldn’t help but snarl. “What did that pathetic vermin tel-“

“Alright! Good work Jin! Issei! You’re next, right? We’re going to RYWP today!” Rintaro winked, coming over in three effortless steps, clearing the dojo as though it were nothing. As though he hadn’t broken a sweat at all.

Issei laughed, “I guess that’s right. Shame I didn’t see how it ended.” He made a show of sighing, stepping forward. He and Jin met in the middle, pausing to give each other a long, meaningful glance. “Though I can assume Rintaro walked away the victor. Don’t worry, I’ll avenge you.”

“In your dreams.” Jin was quick to fire back, their eyes locking for another moment before they finally brushed past each other. However, there wasn’t a hint of ire or venom on Jin’s face. Chizuru frowned, wondering if that’s what Issei meant. If that was just a piece of the ‘in between’ when two forces collided.

Chizuru did not glance down at his phone to see if Mikage had messaged him about a new candy shop. He didn’t need to know. He didn’t care.

Jin found his place next to Chizuru, and without missing a beat, Chizuru grabbed his water bottle and a fresh towel. Jin’s kind smile as he took both was thanks enough, and already the thoughts left by Issei were dissipating from Chizuru’s mind. It really was just a story, after all. With just two animals.

“Chizuru, may I speak with you a moment? While the other two are busy?”

“You don’t even need to ask!” He didn’t, really. However, a part of Chizuru appreciated Jin’s graciousness regardless. He truly was unyielding in all aspects.

“Our last few _yume_ lives have been remarkably successful,” he started out, bending down to grab for his phone, sitting on top of his bag. Chizuru frowned; he could have grabbed that for him. Jin looked through his phone and frowned for only a moment. “By the end of the next term, we should be well on our way to becoming the new heads of the Black Dorm. There will be no other competition, statistically speaking.”

“Is that…what you needed the data analyst for?” Chizuru blinked a little in surprise. He could have easily told Jin that.

“No. That much is to be expected. When you and I are together, there is very little way that things could go wrong.” The confidence in Jin’s voice was overwhelming. “I simply needed to know how the numbers would be affected if I were to overseas, and if we were to part for a few months.”

Chizuru’s mind halted, as though something were pulsating through his skull when the words finally caught up with him. “Pardon?” He asked, maintaining a thin smile. There was nothing wrong with travel, of course. It was necessary when you were the heir to such an important conglomeration. But without your attendant…

“It’s not entirely unusual. Issei has a show overseas, and I have business in the same area.  As troublesome as he is, it is easiest if we travel together. I will be back at the start of the next term, in order to secure our candidacy.” Jin spoke smoothly, as though he had thought this through for quite some time.  “I had to do this too in my first year, if you’ll recall. I would often travel home for meetings.”

“But I was at home, back then,” Chizuru pointed out, before his mind even registered his words. However, he wasn’t sure he would take them back even if he had thought about them. He had spent an entire year training to never leave Jin’s side. He only did when it was absolutely necessary, and when Jin asked it of him. He had learned to enjoy it, and to enjoy certain aspects of his own life. But it was all for Jin’s sake, in the end.

“I’ve had to put a lot of thought into it,” Jin finally confessed, breaking through Chizuru’s own thoughts. “And I would like to travel with you as well, in time. But for this line of business, I’ve made my decision. Asagiri’s data states that as long as we keep up with our blogs and continue working with the _yume_ system, then our rankings shouldn’t make any signific-”

“ _Asagiri_?”

Chizuru had never interrupted Jin. Not once, in his life. He had listened to him, from the first word to the last syllable. He had taken in every piece of it and treated it as law. It was in his training. It was in his blood. But when Mikage’s name was mentioned, Chizuru’s tongue acted faster than any other part of him, beyond his control. And he couldn’t stop.

“You trust that _snake_ to give you accurate and detailed data analysis? Of _course_ someone like him would tell you anything you want to hear, just to send you away,” Chizuru did his best to remain logical, to make as much of a sensible argument as he could. “He could very well swoop in and steal your position while you’re sleeping on the other side of the world.”

“Without Issei?” Jin pointed out. “There isn’t much the man can do without his partner. His skills lie in data and stock reports. His followers will easily bore of that without anything else to keep it interesting.”

Chizuru almost wanted to argue. He almost pointed out Mikage’s quick wit, and infuriating charisma and casual demeanor. He almost mentioned his penchant for philosophy, and how he surprisingly had a lot to say, despite never really talking much about himself. How he seemed to pay attention to everyone around him, but always played it off as a joke. However, there was no argument in history that was worth admitting all of that. There was no way to win if winning meant that he had grown _fond_ of Mikage Asagiri.

Especially if Mikage Asagiri was the reason Jin was going overseas without him.

“Then he’s getting rid of you for another reason,” Chizuru insisted, realizing that he was now just sounding stubborn and childish, and that his words were falling flat. The other two had stopped in their motions, and the dojo had fallen completely silent, with eyes completely on him. Chizuru’s hands were so tight around his braid that his fingers were breaking through the strands.

“Like?” Jin wasn’t backing down from this. Either that, or he was genuinely curious, and earnestly considering what Chizuru had to say. Chizuru wasn’t sure which, and that alone set him on edge. He was expertly trained on Jin’s moods and intonations. He knew them all. But now he couldn’t read him.

“I don’t know. Perhaps that pathetic flea just wants to dominate all of my time. How should I know what lower lifeforms think?” Chizuru fired back, his heart thrumming in his chest as he said it.

“Now why would he want to do that?” Jin raised an eyebrow, and Chizuru opened his mouth.

No sound came out.

“Jin,” Issei spoke up, his voice shockingly gentle, for Issei. He looked between the two, his eyes completely understanding. Rintaro was already packing up his things, heading to the door with a casual wave of his hands, as though none of this mattered to him at all. For once, Chizuru had an inch of respect for him. “We’re finishing up for the day. Did you guys want to grab something to eat with…us?”

From the way he said it, Chizuru knew exactly who “us” referred to. And he knew that Issei was actually trying to _help_.  As though talking about it could actually solve anything. There was nothing to talk about; all involved parties had known about this trip, and all involved parties had decided not to tell Chizuru. And one of them had actively lied about it when given the chance to tell him. He did not want to go to dinner with that particular person.

“No. I have my own business to attend to,” Jin finally said, something silently communicated between him and Issei when their eyes met. “Unless, if Chizuru wanted to…”

“All I want to do is head back to our dorms, with Jin-san,” Chizuru affirmed. And it was true.

All he wanted to do was follow Jin’s orders. Even if he didn’t like them. All he wanted to do was let Jin go on his journey and then come back to him, because that’s what was ordered of him. All he wanted was not to feel so heavy and lonely and angry. He only wanted to follow Jin’s footsteps back to the dorm.

Because that’s what he was born to do.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for your patience with me getting this chapter out! I'm moving soon so things have been hectic! I always wonder what Chizuru's first reaction to Jin taking off overseas with Issei must have been like. I can't help but wonder if he used to be even more attached to Jin than he is in his second year...


	9. Eight

When Jin was young, he was kidnapped and held for ransom. 

It was a commonly told story. It had been quite the sensation at the time, from his capture to his escape. Journalists liked to mention it in almost every article written about him. Even to date, it still came up in interviews. After a while, all the details had come out of the woodwork. The circumstances of how he captured, the motives of the perpetrators, the ransom note, even the exact method Jin had used to escape. There were after-school specials made about it, showed to kids to give safety instructions on what to do if something were to ever happen to them. 

There were some things, however, that the media could never see. 

They could never know the nights Chizuru spent lost and feeling like a failure. Still just a child and confronting the fear that he had failed his only purpose in life. They could never know how deafeningly silent the night was after that. Even when Jin returned, no safety video and no interview could tell you how cold and  _ never ending  _ it all felt. Chizuru would wake up in a cold sweat, every night for three weeks- when he was only seven years old. And he would jolt out of bed as a sense of vertigo overwhelmed him, sending his mind backwards as the expanse of the darkened room seemed to grow forever, into an endless void of loneliness. 

That was around the time they moved Chizuru’s bed into Jin’s bedroom, rather than the room next door. Things became easier after that, when he could go to Jin and make sure he was still breathing. Jin would usually wake up, a lighter sleeper than ever, and he would grab Chizuru’s hand and squeeze. And Chizuru would eventually shuffle back to his original post, and he would doze off again, dreams slowly becoming less and less daunting and impossible to face alone. 

Chizuru had never once seen that covered in a newspaper. And he would much prefer to keep it that way. 

And now, despite the years of training and expertise, and the entire year he spent waiting to become old enough to enroll, the nights still felt a little long. He still woke up sometimes, not from nightmares but simply from a lack of sound. 

He looked down at his phone. It was three in the morning, which meant it was only eleven in California. He wondered if Jin was busy, if he’d pick up should Chizuru called him. He thought better of it. He didn’t need Jin to think he was incapable of being alone, and he certainly didn’t need Jin to worry. 

He scrolled through his contacts instead. There were very few numbers there, simply because there were very few people that he ever needed. And his thumb hovered over one particular name before he threw the phone across his bed and turned back into the pillow to try to get some sleep. 

He wasn’t avoiding Mikage. It was altogether impossible to avoid someone in the same class as him, and Chizuru wasn’t fool enough to try. He simply hadn’t gone to look for any dagashiya recently. The one close to campus suited him just fine for his needs, and he had to act as assistant dorm lead in Jin’s absence. 

However…

As if on cue, the screen from his phone brightened, and a small notification from an app appeared. He sat up and reached for it, with a defeated sigh as he laid back down.

_ A new dagashiya has been discovered! Check the application to confirm!  _

He had no idea if Mikage was really updating the app this late into the night, or if the program was simply bugged and working on a delay. Knowing Mikage, it could easily be both. He could picture him, sitting at his desk at three in the morning, fighting the sunrise as he went through the New York stock exchange at its peak hours. His eyes would be exhausted, but unyielding and concentrated on moving as much money as possible. His lips would be curved into a thin smirk around his twentieth lollipop of the day, taking it out to give a satisfied sigh at every million yen added to his account.

The screen dimmed again, and it made Chizuru realize that not only had he been spacing out, he had been  _ smiling  _ while doing so. Just a soft smile while sprawled out on his bed, on his back with his phone still hovering above his face. He blinked, relaxing his face and shaking his head. When had he grown to see the good points beyond Mikage’s wicked mind? 

He opened the app, and pulled out a little blue marker and dragged it over where Mikage had placed his green one. He dropped it into place, and a little window opened up to write a note. 

_ Fine. I’m free tomorrow.  _

He didn’t expect an immediate response. And he most certainly wasn’t waiting for one. He simply couldn’t sleep. The room was too quiet. His chest was pounding too loud and it made everything around him buzz with useless energy. However, his phone lit up again almost immediately. He was laying there for barely two minutes. He wondered if Mikage was also hovering around his phone. If he was waiting. 

_ It’s a date~ _

Chizuru’s hair was pulled from its braid, but his fingers reached for it anyway, tangling themselves delicately in the strands. 

_ No. No its not.  _

And it wasn’t. It never had been a date because Chizuru was simply never interested in those things. Mikage was just being the snake he was, as always. It was just the sleepless nights without Jin’s steady breathing making his mind turn in circles. Mikage was still a traitor, and Chizuru had every intention of telling him as such tomorrow. And perhaps, should it come down to it, end this little game once and for all. 

\---

“Ah, first you have to buy tokens in order to enter the shop,” Mikage said as they approached a small multi-story building in the middle of  _ Itabashi _ . The place, as it turned out, was not so much a traditional store as it was a game museum, with a sign displaying as such on the door. 

Chizuru grunted. “What? Is this some kind of backwoods county fair?” Still, he was a little intrigued. Mikage had picked him up in a hurry, tossing him his helmet before Chizuru could say another word. And they rode the roads in silence, as though Mikage were also completely aware that they hadn’t spoken since Jin’s departure.

“Is that an American thing?” Mikage fired back quickly, rummaging through his pockets to find money. “Here, I’ll pay for you. It’s been a tight month, so I’ll be expecting this back later, of course. With interest~” 

There was something wrong with the way he spoke, Chizuru realized. He was still winking and casually striding over to the token machine with little regard to the world around him. But it felt hollow, more of an act than it ever did. It made Chizuru feel sick, realizing that MIkage was simply feigning a normalcy that Chizuru had likely broken by ignoring him. 

Mikage handed Chizuru a small satchel of game tokens, and Chizuru shook his head back to reality. He wasn’t the first one who broke them, he reminded himself. 

Chizuru looked inside the bag as Mikage walked inside. “You have to play these rickety old games for the goods. The commoner junk food are the prizes,” Chizuru surmised, and Mikage nodded with a thin smirk on his lips. “How utterly juvenile. Is everything some kind of game to you?” 

Mikage laughed, and this time it sounded genuine. Chizuru swallowed the knot in his throat with practiced grace. “Only ones that I know I can win.” He spun his own coin purse around by the strings, weaving it through his fingers. They walked through the dusty museum, lined with retro game cabinets with very little space in between them. “Don’t tell me Chizu-chan is afraid of a little competition? After making it this far?” 

Chizuru felt his eye twitch. He truly well and hated the snake before him. 

He stormed up to the nearest machine and popped in his token, furiously avoiding eye contact and ignoring how easily he fell back into his usual back-and-forth with Mikage. His classmate slid next to him, taking his rightful place at the machine before shooting a sly grin towards Chizuru. He rolled his eyes in response, and the game was on. 

\---

About an hour later, and they had amassed enough tickets to start buying snacks. Chizuru unwrapped his cheap melopan and took a small bite, stealing a single glance at Mikage. He was hovering over the glass case in the shop-portion of the museum, staring at a long array of lollipops of endless flavors and shapes. Chizuru took another bite and clicked his tongue. He wondered how the boy’s taste buds hadn’t completely eroded by now. 

At the slight sound, Mikage turned his head, and flashed a smile. It was small at first, and far from his usual sly grin. Chizuru knitted his brows together, hating how easily he had come to read such a small detail. He really preferred to save such talents for reading Jin, and no one else. No one else was worth his time. 

And yet…

“Ah, do you like this place, Chizu-chan?” His voice was almost soft, and Chizuru was glad he had too much food in his mouth to answer. He’s not sure what he would have said anyway. It was interesting, but he had no interest in the history of games, let alone the games of commoners. Still, it was a break from the constant monotony of school, without Jin there to break it up. 

Mikage didn’t wait for an answer, in any case. He straightened himself up, as though shaking himself from his thoughts. “Been thinking about taking Mike-chan here or something. That guy’s kind of a mystery.” He said it almost passively, but his eyes never left Chizuru as he spoke. 

Chizuru swallowed the last of the bread down, his throat suddenly feeling incredibly dry. The bread barely made it all the way through, and for a long second, Chizuru felt like he was suffocating, his fingers numb. “Where did that inane thought come from?” Chizuru coughed the last of the bread down and regained his composure while fixing his hair gently. “How should I know what he likes? Do you harbor some kind of pathetic crush on him?” 

The words came out of him quickly, spilling out of him completely. 

“Sure,” Mikage replied with a shrug, as though it were completely obvious. He turned towards the ticket counter, handing over his tickets before walking back to the candy case to show the attendant which lollipops he had chosen. “I’ve come to like a lot of people. Mike-chan, Shigu-chan, that cute girl in groundskeeping committee. I even had a crush on Chizu-chan, before he opened his mouth for the first time.” 

“I…!” Chizuru was taken completely off-guard, for a second, and he was grateful he had no more food to choke on. It meant nothing, he reminded himself. It was just one of Mikage’s games. Just like challenging him to the arcades. Just like starting this whole bet in the first place. 

“Relax, I’m already over it~” Mikage said, not making any eye contact at all. 

In fact, Mikage didn’t look at him at all the entire rest of the time they were in the museum, and scarcely glanced at Chizuru when he asked if he was ready to go. 

As they walked back to the motorbike, with a small bag of goods in hand, Chizuru finally decided to confront him. He took a small breath, wondering all of the sudden why he was nervous. In his sleepless nights, he had been filled with nothing but agitation. But now, after playing arcade games with him and buying fattening commoner food, Chizuru felt nothing of the sort. Still, he had to get it off his chest. He had to know. 

“You didn’t see your partner off at the airport.” 

Mikage paused for a second, raising an eyebrow. “Really? Is that what the cold shoulder act is all about, Chizu-chan? Here I was thinking you were actually  _ mad  _ at me for something. You’re the same as you always are, obsessed with manners and courtesy. Lighten up a little.” He laughed, but his shoulders hardly moved, far from the full-body chuckle that Chizuru was used to.

Chizuru narrowed his eyes and huffed. “Me? Obsessed with  _ manners _ ? You’ve known me for this long and you still see me as the gentlemanly butler that the rest of these pathetic water fleas see when they look at me? Pathetic.” 

“When it comes to your precious Jin-san, that’s what you are.” Mikage shrugged as though it meant nothing at all, unwrapping one of his new lollipops and sticking it into his mouth. “It’s not a bad thing. He brings out the best in you and all that. Ah, I do regret not going though. I wonder if you cried. I bet you looked so cute.” 

Chizuru stopped in his tracks and tightened his grip around his bag, feeling his eye twitch in a way that only Mikage could only truly make it. Feeling anger and irritation that only Mikage could bring out of him. “Shut  _ up _ , you bumbling imbecile,” he managed to grunt out, composing himself long enough to start walking again. “You were just  _ so  _ very eager to get rid of Jin-san in the first place, what with lying to him and all that. I would have thought you’d at least want to watch him go.” 

“Ah, so he told you.” Mikage’s voice was lower this time, staring straight ahead as he shifted the lollipop in his mouth. “I wasn’t.” His words fell into the late summer breeze, and Chizuru could barely hear them, let alone parse out their meaning.

“Hmm? You’re mumbling.” He tried not to sound as impatient as he was. 

Mikage kept walking, now almost a foot ahead of Chizuru as he pulled the lollipop from his mouth for a brief moment.  “I wasn’t lying. Numbers can’t lie. That’s why I like them.” Still, he didn’t look behind him at Chizuru as he spoke. “He told me to read the stats, so I did. You’re really amazing up there, you know, Chizu-chan.” 

“You’re spinning tales again, Snake,” Chizuru spat, picking up his pace has his fingers intertwined into his braid. He gave a final tug as he finally fell back into step with Mikage. “Why did you want Jin-san out of the way?” 

Mikage clicked his tongue, but didn’t answer. Instead, he looked down at his phone, and Chizuru belatedly realize that it was the first time he had done so in hours. Since they entered the museum, actually. Not once did he pause in their playful competition or quick exchanges of insults to check his stock numbers or game alerts. Chizuru furrowed his brow, with the sinking feeling of significance in the back of his brain. 

“He should be asleep by now, actually,” the other boy finally said, swiping at his phone before pocketing it again. But before Chizuru could huff and ask what that imbecile was talking about, or admonish him for trying to change the subject, Mikage grabbed for his wrist and Chizuru simply couldn’t yank his hand away in time. 

And when Mikage looked back at him and gave the smallest smile, with a sad glint in his eye, Chizuru found that he almost didn’t want to. 

“Come on, Chizu-chan. I have one more secret I was keeping.” 

Chizuru’s heart was pounding so hard that he almost couldn’t find the energy to be upset. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry this update took so long! I've gone through and restructured and replanned everything, so hopefully updates can come a little easier. My goal is to finish by the time Part 2 of the game story drops; I'm so very excited for it. Hopefully it's doesn't ruin every headcanon I've ever had for the little snake man lmao


	10. Nine

It became astonishingly apparent where they were heading almost as soon as they entered the main building of the academy. There were few other places Mikage would drag Chizuru, especially on a weekend. “Are you taking me to the dreaming stage? Unhand me,” Chizuru ripped his hand away, having humored him long enough. It was enough that Mikage had dragged him all the way to the motorcycle, but it was even worse that he continued to do so even after they had gotten off. 

He hadn’t explained a thing about what they were doing, and Mikage didn’t seem to be in the mood to do so, even under Chizuru’s questioning. Instead, all he did was flex his fingers around Chizuru’s wrist, as though to make sure he was still there. To make sure he was still walking behind him. As though he would lose him at any moment. 

As though Chizuru were precious enough to hold onto. 

The fingers burned under his skin, but he only ripped his hand away just then, when it became clear where they were headed. 

“Your Jin-san has been working on something,” Mikage said, his voice thick after his startling silence. “I asked him if he’d like to try it out tonight, and he agreed. I think you’ll like it, Chizu-chan.” 

Chizuru frowned, unsure what he hated more: the idea that Jin was keeping so many secrets from him, or how uneasy and unnatural Mikage’s teasing sounded as he entered the dreaming live room. 

“What exactly are you playing at?” Chizuru stormed after him as Mikage weaved around the beds and towards a station, turning it on and pulling out a single yume mask. “You _know_ that these things can only operate under the usage of certain conditions and preparations. I would think that a pathetic mathlete such as yourself would be _fascinated_ with the inner workings of these things?” 

“I’m not a mechanic,” Miakge laughed, and it finally felt natural. Chizuru felt a thrum of victory within him. Getting under Mikage’s skin was a grating and tiresome task. Chizuru has spent months attempting to chase him away, to very little avail. But making him laugh was less challenging, and almost as rewarding.

He smothered the thought as soon as it occurred to him. It simply made the snake easier to control, after all. Clearly Jin had taken something of a liking to him, so it was best to keep him in good graces. It was easier to attract flies with honey over vinegar, and all that. 

It made sense to Chizuru. So he stuck with it. 

“You’re not wrong though,” Mikage finally continued after a long silence. He was fumbling with the mask, adjusting the settings with adept fingers. “This system is amazing. And I’m not the only one who thinks so. The Ryugasaki Corporation has been working with the Dreaming System on the downlow, haven’t they, Chizu-chan?” 

Chizuru stiffened. He couldn’t deny it. The system itself was a bother, in many ways. In fact, it presented a real threat to media entertainment as they knew it. The Ryugasaki family wasn’t one to compromise, but when Jin had proposed they start working within the system to find a way to seize control of the technology, no one had opposed the idea. 

“He never told me what he had planned,” Chizuru fired back, sounding a great deal less venomous than he intended. He hadn’t even been aware that Jin was already making moves towards their goal. Without him. He felt sick. 

That is, until Mikage cleared his throat, and tossed him the mask. Chizuru caught it almost automatically, and tried to shoot a withering glare at Mikage. However, his classmate only smirked, his eyes startlingly soft. 

“I suppose he wanted to keep it a surprise. I bet he’s excited to see your cute little face,” Mikage’s voice was almost distant. “Why don’t you go show it to him?” 

Chizuru looked down at the mask in his hands, and then over at the bed. “Don’t tell me…” He ran the thought through his head, but it made perfect sense. A remote connection of yume masks, without the need of an official dreaming stage bed, allowing any one person to act as the heart at any given time. They could connect dreams across the country. Across the _world_. And now, at this exact moment, from Tokyo to California. He had a hard time biting back the small smile on his lips. “Jin-san truly is a genius.” 

Mikage snorted. “Truly.” But he didn’t seem all that sarcastic. Instead, his eyes were wandering the technology. “He’s really onto something you know. You should talk to him, in there. Get to know his plans. His dreams. In time, maybe you’ll be able to revolutionize entertainment, and connect thousands of people to one single dream.” 

It seemed a little too specific. It seemed as though there was a dream Mikage had in mind. Perhaps a motive behind pushing this little technological advancement. He narrowed his eyes. “What’s in it for you?” 

Mikage only shrugged, and stepped forward. The wry smile was still on his lips, but the warmth in his eyes was completely gone. Now there was just the cool stare underneath his glass frames, staring down at Chizuru. He stepped in closer. Too close. Chizuru took a step back, only to find the back of his shins against the bed. He steadied his stance and stiffened his legs, keeping himself firm. And Mikage only slid in closer, a snake to his very core, until their legs were slotted against each other, and Mikage’s nose was nearly brushing against Chizuru’s face. 

“I don’t know. Maybe nothing. Maybe everything. Maybe I’ll open a casino of dreams. Maybe I’ll enchant thousands of people and trap them inside my own fantasies,” Mikage mused. “Or maybe…” he slid his hand up to Chizuru’s chest, resting over his pounding heart. Chizuru hadn’t noticed how quickly his pulse was thrumming until that moment. And he also hadn’t noticed how Mikage had taken the mask from Chizuru’s open hands. 

“Maybe this is enough,” Mikage finally said, his voice dropped its usual lilt, as though he weren’t speaking to Chizuru at all. But before Chizuru could question it, he felt the yume mask clasp around his face, and he felt a single hand push him backwards, onto the bed. And he was slipping and falling, as his eyes fell shut and he became the heart of his own distant dream. 

\---

When Chizuru opened his eyes, he was on a motorcycle. It wasn’t Mikage’s. It was sleeker, thinner, and painted in a shining dark purple. He was riding on the back, with his arms grasped firmly around a strong waist, clad in thick Italian leather. 

“This isn’t quite the dream I expected,” Jin’s voice said from in front of him, in a low and comforting chuckle. The wind sped around them, but didn’t make a sound. Their voices were as clear as the crisp Autumn breeze that whipped Chizuru’s hair around him. He had no need to wrap his braid around his neck, as it didn’t pull at him or smack his limbs. It nearly flowed with the wind, effortlessly. As though flying. 

“I’ve quite taken to motorcycles,” Chizuru said idly, glancing around him. He wasn’t wearing a helmet, and neither was Jin. However, he had no fear of crashing. There was no one on the bridge that extended out before them. Only an old road made of packed dirt, lined with polished wood painted red. They rode across a river, freckled with red and yellow leaves that had fallen into its serene waters, and the bright autumn trees loomed in the distance as they glided down this scene of nature and startling sentimentality. 

“I can see that. They have a certain freedom to them. I’ve bought this one, you know,” Jin said, passively. “I was going to wait until our next trip home to show you. But it seems you forced my hand. This technology is incredible. It seems like our dreams really have blended together.” 

Chizuru wrapped his arms tighter around Jin’s waist. He could almost hear Mikage’s voice, talking about how Jin would want to see his surprised face. But right now, Jin couldn’t see him at all, and Chizuru didn’t mind in the least. He felt ridiculous, and exposed. He had never acted as the heart before, and he had no time to prepare. 

“I’m glad, at least, that you have gotten something out of it,” Chizuru confessed. “If I had known this is what you were planning, I would have made proper preparations to show you a dream much more worthy of you.” Something like what Jin brings to the table, Chizuru decided. He wondered if he could change it to something sleeker, as they went along. “Instead, it seems we’re merely drifting through a mindless landscape. My apologies.” 

“Not mindless at all,” Jin pointed out, as the end of the bridge drew near and they entered the forest proper. A great shrine stretched out before them, with a large tree in the middle of an expansive courtyard. The shrine itself was massive, growing many stories high, each level with more intricate carvings than the last. Chizuru was not one for mindless traditionalism, but it was delicate and shining. And it was beautiful. He was almost proud of have created it, to have shown Jin the sight. 

The motorcycle grinded to a slow halt, and they parked at the base of the massive tree. “I wonder what people pray at this shrine for,” Jin mused, getting off and pacing around. It was brisk outside, and Chizuru was amazed at how he could still feel the cool wind even in this dreamscape. “I’m sure Issei would love to see this kind of dream. He’s been talking about taking everyone out to a shrine once we return. He says he found one that can grant you the power to see the string of fate that connects you to your one true love.” He laughed, with a fondness for that commoner’s blithe naivety. 

“He’s more of an idiot than I thought,” Chizuru hummed, getting out and pacing around the base of the massive tree. He stared up at the leaves, which seemed to shake and shimmer with an ethereal golden color. The light danced around and through them, and if Chizuru stared long enough, it was almost blinding. 

He looked down again, and saw a small stand in the distance. It looked to be a permanent type of food stall, its doors opened invitingly and displaying the unmistakable bright colors of cheap junk food, lining every shelf of the stall. At the center, he could make out the small frame of an elderly woman, and he could just see her hand lift, beckoning the two of them over. 

Chizuru felt his blood run cold, for a fraction of a moment, and he turned back to Jin, choosing to walk to the shrine instead. His own thoughts were getting ahead of him, chasing him. And if he didn’t keep them away, then surely Jin would find out about his junk food habit. He hissed to himself, wondering just what kind of game that snake was playing. 

“When will you be back?” He finally asked, tugging his jacket around him as he walked down the long path of shrine gates. Jin followed by his side, looking straight ahead. 

“Another month or so,” Jin said, almost startlingly noncommittally. He really wasn’t in a hurry at all, Chizuru realized with a great amount of dread. He felt bile rise to his throat, but shoved it back down. The leaves shuddered around him, and he stiffened his shoulders. This was his dream, after all, like it or not. His true colors could easily show if he wasn’t careful. It’s why he was always grateful to always be the buddy, never the heart. 

Besides, why would anyone want to be the heart when Jin Ryugasaki was around? 

“I’m glad though,” Jin finally said, looking around. He stopped at a bench that Chizuru hadn’t remembered being there just a moment before. He sat down, gesturing for Chizuru to sit with him. Chizuru dutifully nodded, taking his rightful place by Jin’s side. “This dream is truly your own, a mix of something that I had never seen from you before. If I had never left, I would have never seen it.” 

Chizuru turned his head away from Jin in a hurry, feeling his heart rate increase. It wasn’t like when Mikage had touched him. That had been terrifying and new, suffocating and confusing and overwhelming on all levels. This was warm, and made him feel light and empty. It made him feel like he was back in his comfort zone. Like if he never left Jin’s side, nothing in his life would ever have to change again. 

A stiff breeze came through, and blew several leaves off the trees, flying by as Chizuru’s braid whipped in the wind. Chizuru frowned. Change was inevitable, after all, wasn’t it? 

“I’m not even sure where this dream came from,” Chizuru finally confessed, feeling more honest than he had in a very long time. It felt strange, like his lungs and throat were completely empty, like he was breathing air he had never breathed before. He wasn’t sure if he liked it or not. “I have never been to such a pathetically quaint little place before. A place like this, it’s washed out in a sentiment forced on its people by history. I can’t relate to something like that.” 

“I wonder about that,” Jin said passively, but not disagreeing. “It doesn’t suit you, perhaps. But...ah, Issei had asked me recently if there was a word in English for...hmm...fake nostalgia, I suppose. A growing nostalgia for some place you’ve never been before. I couldn’t think of anything. I even asked Kuma, if there was a word for it in German.” 

Chizuru snorted. “That simpleton knows German?” 

“You’d be surprised.” Jin responded in return. “But he had no idea either. The only thing I could think of was _romanticism_. This idea that the past is somehow better than the present. A longing for a time you’ve never felt, and never will. This place makes me think of that.” 

“That’s idiotic. That’s simply denial of the present,” Chizuru spoke with utmost certainty. The whole conversation felt a little superfluous, if he were being honest. But Jin was a surprisingly philosophical sort. He kept the company of a storyteller, after all. He must, on some level, enjoy this kind of inane thinking. “The present is truly the only thing that matters, in the long run.” 

“Even more than the future?” Jin raised an eyebrow.

Chizuru felt trapped, coughing a little. “Well…! That’s different!” He faltered for a moment, looking around at the scenery as the sun began to shift lower into the sky. He wondered how long it had been, or if his dream was simply shifting and changing without him being able to control it, being able to stop it. The doors to the distant dagashiya had shut for the day, the wooden blinds were pulled down, leaving a distinctly cold abandoned building, washed away with time and rot. “Each moment in the present becomes the future, after all. You’re already working towards that, with this new technology.” 

“So I am,” Jin said with another hum. Chizuru felt something bubble up inside of him, and he suddenly had a million questions he wanted to ask, but he couldn’t find the words for any of them. He felt tangled, and trapped. Somewhere in between the future and the present, with this lingering, awful longing for the past intertwined around it all. And he couldn’t get free. 

“It’s working well though,” Jin said with a nod, standing from the bench. “We’ll have to do this again, before I return. I’ll take you somewhere, next time. We can go hiking up the mountains. Or diving off of a waterfall. It’s been a while, hasn’t it?” There was a dangerous lilt to his voice, and things began to untangle, and fall back into complacent normalcy. 

Chizuru nodded heartfully, with a small smile. “I look forward to the dream you’ll be showing me.” And he truly meant it. He was certain a dream like this one was too slow for a man like Jin. It was too soft and casual. Sure, there was the sheen of golden leaves and shimmering temples, but there was something underneath that was cloying and honest and _ordinary_. Something that was unique and incredible, but waiting to be discovered. Like a flashy man who flaunted his money, but dressed only in soft shirts and did mathematics for fun. 

Chizuru huffed, resolving to show Jin a better dream next time. A dream that didn’t reek of someone else. 

“You’ve changed quite a bit, Chizuru,” Jin finally said, walking back to the motorcycle. Chizuru followed, a question in his eyes. “I’m glad. I was afraid you’d never have your own dreams without me, if I am being honest with myself. But now I see that isn’t true. I look forward to returning back to your side. Truly.” 

Chizuru furrowed his brow, not thinking he had changed that much at all. Still, he couldn’t exactly argue with Jin. He didn’t like to make a habit of questioning him, even if he disagreed. The fall breeze grew colder, and the night grew a fraction darker. Jin climbed onto the motorcycle, and turned to face him with a small smile on his face. He held out his hand, gesturing for Chizuru to join him. And as Chizuru took it, his heart wasn’t pounding in the slightest. 

And as the dream faded to black, Chizuru didn’t even particularly find that strange. 

\---

It was early evening when Chizuru pulled off the yume mask, completely alone in the room. Empty beds stretched out before him, with no sound but the gentle hum of the dreaming live machines, recording a dream that he could barely even control, much less hope to understand what it truly meant.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kumarin absolutely knows German. I don't make the rules. Kakihara Tetsuya does.


	11. Ten

He found Mikage sitting in front of his computer, dressed in his worn-down slacks and balancing one of his newly bought lollipops between his lips. His ears twitched slightly as the door opened, but he didn’t so much as look away from the screen. He shifted after a short moment of awkward silence, glancing down at his phone to check another sale before going back to his computer. 

“Do you always leave your dorm door open? You can’t possibly be  _ that  _ much of an imbecile.” 

Mikage shrugged, an easy smile between the stick of his lollipop. His eyes shifted just slightly, towards Chizuru still standing in his door frame. “Ryocho always preaches an open-door policy here in the White Dorm. He’s thinking of making it a requirement once he becomes Dorm Lead. The habit gets stuck, after a while.” 

Chizuru shuddered, for a moment, to think of such a policy in the Black Dorm, imagining for one minute what it might be like for that miscreant Yanagi to have his door unlocked at all hours of the night. “He’s more meddlesome than I possibly could have imagined.” 

“Tell me about it,” Mikage snorted in agreement, finally turning around to face Chizuru in full. He didn’t look a bit different than earlier in the day. He had only just seen him a few hours prior, after all. And yet, Chizuru seemed to be seeing a different person. Like how changing a simple lightbulb can make you feel like you're in an entirely new room. Chizuru hated the uneasiness it brought. 

“Anyway, Chizu-chan must have walked an awful long way to come see me. Ah, don’t tell me. Do you need love advice?” Mikage raised an eyebrow, his smirk growing wider still. And Chizuru had nothing to say or do but stand in the doorway, staring as his mind wrapped itself around the words. 

“Why on  _ earth  _ would I come to you for  _ any  _ advice? You  _ left  _ me in the dreaming live without saying a word,” Chizuru pointed out. “And you  _ recorded  _ the dream. I’ve played enough of your perverse little games today,  snake.” 

“Ah, do you not want to share your dreams with me? Truly, I’m hurt,” Mikage sighed, false sincerity dripping from every single word. “It was just data, don’t worry. I didn’t look at any of the tape. I already told you, Chizu-chan was a part of my fun little experiment, along with your Jin-san.” 

“Why do you call him that?” Chizuru asked before he could let him continue. 

“Hmm?”

“ _ My  _ Jin-san. You always specify that, like I own him. Rest-assured Jin-san is his own man. I belong to him. My life is dedicated to him, and he owes me absolutely nothing in return.” It bothered Chizuru more than it should have. Jin didn’t belong to anyone, or anything. Not even him. 

Not even him. 

“His heart then,” Mikage said idly, suddenly more invested in the screen than ever before. His voice had become quieter, sicker. As though he was fighting back the depth of his tone, the smugness gone for a brief second. “But ‘Jin-san’s heart that belongs to you’ is so long to say. You can’t possibly expect me to put that much effort forward.” 

“Excuse me?” Chizuru nearly choked out the words. He took a step into the room, half tempted to march over and unplug Mikage’s computer until he got real answers. He was sick of the guy always snaking around, acting so obtusely at all times. 

On some level, he knew he couldn’t talk. He knew there was a dishonesty to every little thing he said. But he was a bad person. A poisonous tongue with an angel’s smile. He had been told this by his parents since birth. It had been his very weapon against everything the world threw at him. But it didn’t work against someone equally dishonest. 

And it was  _ killing  _ him watching Mikage shrug off everything as though nothing mattered to him at all. As though he never had a single dream in his life. 

"Ah, don't tell me...he  _ rejected  _ you, Chizu-chan,” Mikage’s tone was teasing, but his voice was surprisingly soft. “There’s still plenty of time before the local shop closes up for the night. Let’s go get even more junk food and forget all about it. If you’re a good boy, I’ll even treat you~” 

“Shut up.  _ Shut up  _ for once in your life, you disgusting snake. Just…” the words were drenched in his venom, his throat raw in a way that he almost couldn’t comprehend. His head felt heavier than any other part of his body, as though his skull could cave in from the weight. “I have no such feelings for Jin-san. He has no feelings for  _ me _ .” 

He meant it, he thought. He was almost sure. But he didn’t know why saying it made him feel so ill. 

“So you just sold your soul to him without having a  _ shred  _ of interest in him?” Mikage raised an eyebrow, pretending his own voice wasn’t strained and on-edge. As though they weren’t on the cusp of a full fight. 

“My soul was sold since  _ birth _ ,” Chizuru grounded his foot into the carpet of the dorm room, as though stamping out every thought running through his head. That’s right; he was Jin’s servant since birth. It was his purpose and he loved that about himself. For every single flaw he had, he had that one tie binding him down. That one thing that made him more worthwhile than the mere fleas that walked around him. 

“Oh, I see now. You just walked blindly behind the first person that everyone pointed you towards. You really are such an obedient boy. I’m sure everyone is so proud of you for only walking the path carved for you, and never veering off of it.” 

He thought about the long autumn road winding through the woods, to the shrine. He thought about the shop jutting off the side of the path, with the little old lady welcoming him. He thought about how he ignored it all entirely. How he was  _ afraid  _ of Jin seeing any other paths but the one he was on. 

“ _I’m_ proud of me for walking this path. You don’t know anything about what’s coming out of your mouth, you absolute curr. Not everything in life has to be about love or sex or _feelings_. It’s about purpose. And knowing your place. Something you clearly know nothing about. Waltzing around carelessly like you’re going to be young forever. Like it’s all an endless game to you.”

“Not endless.” 

That’s all he said, turning back to his computer once and for all, eyes locked the screen like he never intended to look away. Like he wanted the stocks and statistics to swallow him whole. “We all grow up, Chizu-chan. And everything ends. You’re supposed to enjoy it while you can. But you don’t want that, do you? You only want what was given to you. I guess, for that, I’m pretty jealous.” 

From day one, the only thing Chizuru ever wanted was to get under Mikage’s skin. He wanted to find the words that burned that silver tongue right off of him. He wanted to rip away that slick surface and find out what happened when Mikage was at his core. When he was angry or irritated. He always imagined this fiery creature, storming off and never speaking to Chizuru again. 

But instead, what he got was a defeated man, staring at his computer screen with eyes that seemed to be looking a million worlds away. And Chizuru wasn’t sure he could pull him back to earth. 

“I’m not,” he finally tried, after a long silence. “I’m not in love with Jin-san.” 

Mikage didn’t so much as glance his direction. “I know that, silly. I was mistaken. Black hearts like ours can’t love, after all.” 

Chizuru stilled. 

“Right.” 

Mikage was right.

He was. 

Chizuru nodded, to himself and then to Mikage. But the other man didn’t spare him any acknowledgment. And Chizuru didn’t even feel affronted or insulted. He only felt annoyed, confused, and above all else,  _ defeated _ . As though he lost a game that he had no idea that he was playing, let alone what the rules were. 

He turned on his heels, sparing a single glance behind his shoulder, brushing his hair from his face. Mikage took the used lollipop stick from his mouth, empty and chewed to distortion, not a speck of candy left on it. And he chucked it into the trashcan next to his desk. Chizuru turned back with a single huff, and left the room. 

Perhaps Mikage was right. Perhaps some junk food was in order. 

\---

“It’s unlike you to be so indecisive.” 

Chizuru pivoted towards the elderly woman and shot her a glare that could break glass. He was shopping completely as he usually did. He wasn’t taking any longer than usual, nor waffling back and forth on any particular item. And he certainly wasn’t pausing every time he passed by a bag of lollipops. 

“Do you ever  _ leave  _ this place?” He asked the shopkeeper, venom dripping from his voice as he quickly grabbed a package of melopan, as though to prove a point. “You’re here every single time I come in. Would it really kill you to hire someone else? I know these places are dying to convenience stores but you really needn’t be so stingy.” 

The woman only laughed, shaking her head sadly. She pulled out a small box of stock from behind the counter, dragging it over to the shelf. It was later in the evening, and Chizuru imagined this is when she got a chance to organize all of the new items coming in. He had half a mind to help her carry the weight, before remembering himself and shaking off the feeling. He owed her nothing, after all. The only thing she ever gave him was cheap candy and unwanted advice. 

“My children help out, sometimes. Or they used to.” Her voice sounded far away. Like her mind was wandering through worlds beyond Chizuru’s reach. Like Mikage’s, staring intently at his screen and blocking out the present entirely. Chizuru clicked his tongue. 

“I had plans for them to carry the family business, some time ago. But...well you know how children are.” 

Chizuru didn’t, actually. He didn’t understand it all. “You laid out a pretty clear path, as homely as this shop might be.” He grabbed for a bag of dried squid, flipping it over in his hands to inspect the flavoring on it. “Clearly you just raised them incorrectly.” 

“Perhaps,” the woman laughed, though clearly she didn’t agree at all. She started unloading the box, slowly. Her hands shook slightly with the effort, old and worn around the edges, rough with both labor and resolve. “But I like to think I raised them to follow what makes their heart feel full. Perhaps it’s not dagashi. But they followed the path they wanted to walk. And that makes  _ my _ heart full, even if my wallet always isn’t.” 

Chizuru dropped a bag of chips, his arms unable to hold anymore of the treats he had grabbed in an attempt to prove his own decisiveness. The woman started over, to help him pick it up. But she moved so slow, with effort and age weighing her down. Chizuru swooped up the chips quickly, before she wasted any more effort on him. He stood up straight, and found himself nearly face to face with her. 

She was smiling, warm and welcoming. The same way she was in his dream, beckoning him away from Jin’s side. 

“I see you’ve decided then?” 

Chizuru wasn’t sure that he had.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun fact is that "Black Hearts Like Ours" was the original title of this fic, before I decided it sounded too depressing. Though, given my current direction, perhaps it still fits.


	12. Thirteen

Months passed effortlessly, almost listlessly. And this time Chizuru  _ was  _ in fact avoiding Mikage. It was easy, actually. They became strangers, or near-strangers. Classmates, at the very most. Mikage gave him a small smile while they passed each other in the hallway, once. He was walking alongside Shion Mikekado, and there was a small gaggle of fans behind them holding their books. Chizuru huffed through his nose and kept walking, eyes glued forward, always looking at the next destination. That was two weeks before Jin announced his arrival. 

Three days before Jin arrived, Mikage offered to drive them both to the airport to pick them up. Chizuru left him a single word message, refusing. The thrill of rebuffing him was slowly fading, and only left him feeling sick in return. But it wouldn’t matter before long. Before long, Jin would be back and everything would be completely normal. Chizuru was marking the days off on a small calendar at his desk. 

Jin arrived to great fanfare, of course. Chizuru had arranged a grand party the night before. He rented out the ballroom of the Grand Marquis Hotel three blocks from the academy, and Jin was all too happy to attend, despite the jetlag. Chizuru invited Issei as a courtesy, hoping the peasant wouldn’t actually come. He did, of course, with his insufferable partner in tow. 

It was no matter. He had ignored Mikage for two months with no effort at all. He could do it again now. Even with Mikage dressed in a light gray suit that fit him perfectly. When he moved to the sweets table, each fold sat along each curve of his lithe body, as though accentuating a new part with every movement. When he laughed, the lights of the crystal chandeliers bounced off his glasses, lighting up his eyes as he spoke to each guest. Chizuru clicked his tongue, wondering where the idiot got off acting like he was worthy of such a high-class affair. 

“Chizuru,” Jin’s voice said from next to him. Chizuru nearly jumped out of his skin, turning towards his liege with a smile. Jin was dressed to the nines as well. It was only natural. He was draped in rich purples and golds, in a suit that likely cost more than the entire hotel they were standing in. It was only fitting for a king. He smiled down at Chizuru, and he didn’t feel a shred of the anger he felt when he saw Mikage smile. 

But he didn’t feel a shred of elation either. 

“Yes, Jin-san?” Chizuru smiled, and it felt natural. He twisted his hand through his braid, removing it only when he noticed people at the party staring at them. They were future leaders, after all. He had to assert his dominance at the top, over the water fleas. It was the only way to make Jin shine even brighter. 

“Thank you, for the party. You really outdid yourself again. I’m almost afraid of what you’ll do for my birthday this year.” It was a joke, but Chizuru bit his lip anyway, worrying it over. He hadn’t even thought about Jin’s birthday yet. It was still several months out, but he would have to put everything on the table if he wanted to outdo this. 

He looked out into the crowd, to admire his work. Anyone who was anyone was there, of course. It was the least he could do for a man like Jin. Many school donors and entertainment moguls arrived, if only to shake hands with the Ryugasaki heir. 

His eyes rested on Mikage for only a second, leaning over some young woman as he showed her his smartphone. No doubt he was bragging about his stock trades, flaunting around his wealth in the slim hopes of actually impressing her. Chizuru felt his blood boil, with half the mind to rip the stupid phone out of his hands. He knew Mikage could easily get through a conversation without it. He knew it was just a crutch, a distraction. 

After all, Mikage could talk to  _ him  _ just fine without it. He wanted to make him do that again, to just look at  _ him _ . And he hated that. 

Jin cleared his throat, as though aware of Chizuru’s lost thoughts. Chizuru snapped back, ashamed of letting his thoughts wander off to that snake.  _ Twice _ . Jin only smiled, placing his hand on Chizuru’s shoulder reassuringly. He didn’t try to pry. In fact, his smile was understanding. Sympathetic, even. 

Chizuru snarled, just a little, wondering what Mikage had told to Issei to get Jin to look at him that way. 

“Anyway, I need to restock the dorm with some supplies. We’re running low since my departure. The current dorm lead really can lack at such planning. I’d like for you to accompany me on a shopping trip. Bringing new food and supplies to the dorm together will easily seal our candidacy for the next year.” 

“Brilliant as always, Jin-san,” Chizuru nodded. The current dorm head was more interested in doing dreaming lives and securing his own position at the top. He had no interest in the good of the dorm itself. Jin’s methods might be harsh, at times. But really, it was what the dorm needed to light a fire under them. There was no other candidate. 

And no one but Chizuru could fall in line behind him. 

\---

“You know, I was quite disappointed in the dreaming lives that were executed in my absence,” Jin confessed as they strolled down the street lined with high-end shops and designer boutiques. It was a far cry from the dingey back-alleys where Chizuru ended up scouring for junk food. And it was even still a far cry from the polished tourism of the mall where Mikage had taken them. 

This was consumerism for the highest caliber of wealth. This was a shining pinnacle of true wealth, rather than a getaway for the middle class, riding on both nostalgia and comfort. It was much closer to the glittering streets of Hollywood, and therefore much closer to the places Chizuru and Jin both called home. 

“They were rather paltry, weren’t they?” Chizuru agreed with a hum, swinging a small bag of notebooks and pens at his side. It was getting rather cold out, and the streets were already lined with Christmas lights and the windows were frosted over with fake snow. It was still early afternoon, but Chizuru suspected this was quite the romantic scene during the night. 

He played Mikage’s words over in his head, staring at Jin with a quick furrow of his brows. He was happy to be by Jin’s side. But he didn’t want to walk a romantically-lit sidewalk with him, with snow falling around them in the quiet of a late November night. He had been fine with not wanting those things with Jin, actually. But now he was wondering if there was something wrong with him. 

“It’s not that, exactly.” Jin laughed, his voice rich and dark as always. “They were less than satisfactory, but a little bit of training and adventure will fix all of that in no time. I’ve already begun coming up with an ideal regimen.” He paused, turning his attention over to the windows of the fancy stores they passed. “You didn’t do any lives, in my absence. Not even as the buddy.” 

“Why on earth would I do a dreaming live without you?” Chizuru was almost insulted, but something stopped him from really feeling mad about it. Maybe it was the memory of sitting on a bench outside of the shrine, with golden leaves falling around them, as Jin told him how much he enjoyed his own personal dream. 

Jin sighed. “I want to see it someday,” he confessed. “I want to see you do a live as the Heart, even if I’m not your buddy. I had hoped you’d find a partner who could make you shine, on your own. Someone you can walk beside, rather than behind.” 

“Why would yo-” 

“Because then we can be truly unstoppable together,” Jin said, curtly. Quickly. “I rely on your strength, after all. Just as much as you rely on mine.” There was unwavering honesty in his voice. He truly meant every word he said. However, Chizuru couldn’t find it in himself to look him directly in the eye. 

A partner who would make him shine…

“You’ve been staring at that candy shop,” Jin then said, softly, nearly a minute later. 

Chizuru couldn’t deny it. “The garish colors make it rather hard to ignore. Besides, I’ve been seeing it plastered all over our school’s blogs. Some idle trendsetter started posting about it and now everyone wants a bite. It seems these water fleas are fascinated with things they can’t afford to buy.” 

He didn’t mention the blog that had started the trend. He didn’t need to. 

“Then perhaps it would do our efforts some good to go in and buy half the store. We can easily give away anything we don’t want. After all, we can afford to spread the wealth,” Jin said with a small laugh, and Chizuru knew he was only half joking. He looked down at his phone and considered it for a moment. It would do them some good to improve the relations with the rest of the student body, with elections drawing near. And on top of that, it was still proving just how far the distance was between Jin and everyone else. 

“Just don’t expect me to eat any,” Chizuru finally sighed as they neared the store. Jin nodded, a sly smile on his lips as  he walked towards a large glass jar filled with gourmet lollipops. 

\---

Chizuru wasn’t an idiot, of course. He knew what Jin was doing. He knew that Jin had saved the jar for last when he was distributing sweets to the Black Dorm. He knew what Jin wanted when he smirked adn handed the jar over. He knew when he asked Chizuru to disperse the leftovers to someone who would want them. 

Someone he could walk beside, rather than behind. 

He sighed, grabbing the jar.

He thought about just tossing it. Or leaving it with some giggling gang of vapid first-year girls. He was sure they would enjoy it. And next year they would be falling at his and Jin’s feet. It would be simple. He wouldn’t have to walk to the White Dorm. He wouldn’t have to waste his time giving a gift to someone that he didn’t care about. 

He didn’t have to give a gift to someone who so clearly didn’t care about him. 

That thought stopped him dead in his tracks. He tried to shake it off, but as he looked at the jar of swirled colorful candies, all of the memories of the last two months came back to him. The sad eyes as Mikage stared straight ahead in class. How Mikage stopped smirking as much whenever he spoke. How he fiddled with his lollipops more, like Chizuru fiddling with his braid. How his laughter at his party stood out so loudly, when Mikage’s real laugh was soft and knowing. 

He hadn’t been ignoring Mikage Asagiri at all. He hadn’t been avoiding him in the least. He had been watching his every move. And somehow, Mikage hadn’t been avoiding him either. Not in his thoughts. Barely in his actions. 

Chizuru tightened the grip around the jar as he walked forward, towards the White Dorm, with purpose. And as he walked, he imagined falling into step behind Jin. And he imagined falling into step right beside Mikage. Neither of them felt wrong, or pathetic. Both felt right. And that felt terrifying. 

He pounded on the door, with his palms flat. He cleared his throat loudly, making himself impossible to ignore. “Open up, you insolent cur!” 

“Which insolent cur?” An unmistakable voice said from behind a door. “Because one insolent cur is at at a joint council meeting. And the other one is trying  _ very  _ hard to make three million yen by the end of the hour.” 

Chizuru wanted to be angry at this response. But it had been two months since he had heard this kind of retort. It had been two months since someone talked back to him and met him halfway like this. And even through the door, Chizuru could hear the smile on his lips. “What happened to your precious open door policy?” Chizuru finally asked. “Don’t tell me you’ve finally learned to accept that I was right the whole time? Or perhaps you’ve simply learned to disobey your  _ master _ ?” 

He heard footsteps towards the door, and Chizuru retracted his hand and wrapped both arms around the jar of candy. As though he could somehow hide the contents and therefore hide his intentions. He knew there was no denying it. He knew the sparkling pinks and purples and greens were too hard to hide even under his best attempts. 

“ _ My _ master? Rich words, coming from you, Chizu-chan.” 

The door opened, and Mikage was still in his school uniform, half undone but still mostly in-tact. He must have only just come back from class, and collapsed on his bed to try to make a few million in stocks before winding down. “After all,” Mikage continued, “Aren’t you only here because  _ your  _ master asked you to apologize?” 

Chizuru bristled. It was unspoken, of course. Jin’s words and orders were always unspoken.

“I’m here because there’s only one snake disgusting enough to devour all of these lollipops fast enough to get rid of them,” Chizuru finally sighed, thrusting the jar towards Mikage. Mikage caught it, awkwardly, blinking as he looked through the jar, recognizing the label instantly. “Besides, there’s no other place I can go to try one of these allegedly amazing candies without anyone else seeing me.” 

Mikage then looked up, his smile soft, and a little lopsided. But still, not quite his usual smirk. He was staring at him, his eyes asking a question that Chizuru wasn’t sure how to answer. “Why Chizu-chan, that was an almost halfway honest answer.” He sounded more genuinely surprised than teasing. 

The sad thing was, the answer  _ was  _ honest. At least halfway. Perhaps he was here because Jin told him to come. Perhaps he was also here because he wanted to be. Perhaps the answer was somewhere in between. 

“Well, are you going to invite me in or not?” Chizuru finally asked. 

Mikage’s smile spread to the entire rest of his face, and he opened the door. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wish I had an excuse as to why this took so long, but I do not.


	13. Fourteen

“Chai tea, really?” Chizuru raised an eyebrow as he unwrapped the next lollipop and placed the wrapper on their small pile on the coffee table. He leaned back on the couch, popping the candy into his mouth and wrinkling his nose. “I hate milk candy flavors. They’re chalky and juvenile.” 

“Hmm. Give me a taste, then?” Mikage leaned over to grab the stick from Chizuru’s mouth. However, Chizuru managed to scoot back in time, his back hitting the arm of the sofa. 

“Not a chance, snake.” Chizuru spat back, taking the candy out and chucking it into the trash. Mikage looked a little wounded wounded as he watched the white lollipop speckled in black fall into the wastebasket. Chizuru delighted in his reaction. If he had known it was that easy to upset the guy, he would have done this a long time ago. 

“You’re an evil creature. You know that?” Mikage said, with a sigh that said that he didn’t mean it at all. He reached over towards the jar, but instead grabbed a small folder sitting next to it. He pulled it over, showing it briefly to Chizuru. “But I suppose you did bring me a nice little treat. So I should return the favor.” 

Chizuru raised an eyebrow and reached for the next flavor. Lavender, the wrapper said. He waited for Mikage to continue explaining. After all, the snake did love to run his mouth. 

“I managed to get a hold of the accepted applicants for next year’s special class. Of course, I haven’t had the chance to take a look myself yet. Curious to take a peek with me, Chizu-chan?” 

Chizuru ran the flowery candy over his tongue, eyebrow still raised. “How did you get your hands on that? That should be for the admissions office only.” He wasn’t one for strict rules, but even he knew when something was strange. Not even Jin’s money could bribe that kind of information out of them. 

Mikage only laughed. “Do you really want to know? I did all manner of  _ unsightly  _ things for this folder. I wouldn’t want you to get jealous~” 

Chizuru bit down on the stick of the lollipop. Hard. “Just open it.” 

Mikage laid out the folder on the coffee table, flipping over to the first application. Touji Harimiya, the son of Prime Minister Harimiya and a top-scorer on the entrance exams. He was a good-looking boy, with a stern face in the picture, desperately trying to look as dignified as possible. 

“Oh, I’m calling dibs,” Mikage said casually, pulling an empty lollipop stick from his mouth and grabbing for another. When Chizuru blinked at him in a mix of disgust in confusion, he merely twirled the new lollipop around in his mouth. “For white dorm. I’m taking Harichan as our own.” 

“You don’t even have the power to do that. Besides, he’d be a terrible fit for you lackadaisical buffoons,” Chizuru turned the next page and read it quickly. He smiled just a little, satisfied. “There. You can have that one.” 

Mikage looked him over. Completely ordinary, and unassuming. He was described as an artist, with unkempt hair and glasses nearly covering his face entirely. He could be an attractive young man, with some work and cleaning. “You two can be glasses buddies. He’s a perfect fit for you.” 

“Trying to set me up, Chizu-chan?” Mikage leered. “This isn’t some mail-order bride catalog, you know~” 

“I utterly despise you.” Chizuru didn’t often resort to words like that. Frankly, it felt like defeat to not have a retort ready against someone like Mikage. But when Mikage grinned at him, smug and self-assured, Chizuru was wondering if it would be okay to give in sometimes. 

Mikage turned the page. Another commoner. An up-and-coming actor that Chizuru had never seen before and honestly had no interest in. He was as good-looking as most actors were, but as common as they come. “Pass.” 

“Oh come on. You can’t take the best ones for your dorm and leave me with the scraps. What would your…” Mikage paused, his smile slipping for only a minute. “What would Jin think?” 

Chizuru blinked, realizing exactly what had just happened in a near instant. “Jin-san would be happy I’m doing my  _ job  _ as a dorm assistant. I want the Black Dorm to crush you fools like the fleas you are, after all.”

Chizuru did. Personally. All on his own. He wondered if Mikage understood. 

Mikage stared at him for a long moment. And Chizuru wondered when the other boy had gotten so close. He wondered if they had always been sitting shoulder to shoulder, practically on top of each other, but just never turned to face each other. It was just like the afternoon in the dreaming stage. Face-to-face with little distance to close, Chizuru’s heart pounding and blood rushing to his head in dizzying confusion. 

“Hey, Chizu-chan,” Mikage started, but his eyebrows furrowed, as though unsure of what he was trying to say. Instead, he reached forward, slowly and uncertain. And Chizuru didn’t pull away, breathless as he effortlessly pulled the lollipop from Chizuru’s mouth. He held it between his fingers, not breaking eye-contact for a single second. 

Chizuru’s mouth was dry, and his heart had somehow made its way to his throat, rendering him completely unable to speak, unable to breathe. He glanced down at Mikage’s lips, so close to his, and all at once everything crashed down around him. 

He wanted to walk behind Jin. He wanted to support him. He wanted to push and he wanted to be pulled. He wanted to walk the path that was set out for him since birth. He truly loved that path. And yet…

He also wanted to go to old dagashiya in the broken-down places of Japan, piling up on junk food and living a nostalgic childish life that he never got to live. He wanted to ride motorcycles down highways, letting the cold December wind run through his hair as he hung onto something close. Something that he didn’t want to let go of. 

He wanted to walk down a path covered in Christmas lights, twinkling as couples walked around him. He wanted to reach out a gloved hand, and grab onto someone else. He wanted to walk beside that person. 

He reached up, and for the briefest moment, Chizuru and Mikage’s fingers overlapped as he grabbed for the stick of the lollipop, chewn and worn but with candy still left on it. Their fingers brushed over each other, and Chizuru made the mistake of looking over at Mikage’s face. He was smiling, eyebrows furrowed, and his lips darted inward once, for his teeth to worry them over. He was nervous. He wasn’t just flirting, or toying around as he always did. 

Chizuru hadn’t been ignoring Mikage at all, truly. 

He grabbed the lollipop, finally, and pulled it from Mikage’s hand. Swiftly, he placed it between his lips, and ran it over his tongue as though to erase the words he wanted to say. As though to erase the moment entirely. 

“I need to be going.” 

“Does Jin-san need you?” MIkage finally asked, his voice steadied out as he unwrapped a melon lollipop and placed the wrapper down. Chizuru stood up and Mikage kicked back his feet, right where Chizuru had been. As though nothing had happened at all. It was a nice thought, and it would be nicer if Chizuru could get his heart to calm down. 

“No,” Chizuru finally said. “He’s in that council meeting too, with Issei.” His voice felt stilted, but not abrasive. “I just…” He couldn’t think of an excuse. For the first time he couldn’t think of a handy retort to cling to or a bitter remark to leave on. And Mikage stared at him, unable to come up with a silver-tongued lie. 

They were both stripped bare. It was too much to take. It was too much for Chizuru to stay. And the worst part was knowing that he really didn’t want to leave. 

“I get it,” Mikage finally said, pulling out his smartphone from his pocket. He stared at it, eyes steady with a small smile still on his lips. Chizuru really couldn’t figure him out at all. “I have quite the collection of dagashiya I’ve found though. So don’t be a stranger this time. After all, I look forward to destroying you  _ thoroughly  _ by the end of the term~” 

Chizuru wondered if Mikage still believed his final words to him, from the night they fought. He wondered if he still thought that their black, soiled hearts were incapable of finding someone that they wanted to love. 

And more importantly, he wondered if he still agreed with him. 

Just like the last time he left Mikage’s dorm feeling confused and lost, he knew that there was really one place he had left to go. And he nearly ran there. He ran all the way to the train station, and he closed his eyes as he crammed himself onto the car full of commoners. He tried not to think about the path he took to get there. He tried not to think about Mikage’s lips, soft and inviting. And his eyes, daring him to take a bet that he wasn’t sure would pay off. 

\---

However, when he got there, the dagashiya was closed. 

It had been two months since he had last gone, he realized. He really did buy a lot that time, and simply had never needed to restock. And when he did need extra junk food, there were plenty of ways to get it from kids around the school, cramming for various exams and in need of stress relief. Commoners had their purpose too, after all. 

But this time he wondered if that’s all it was. If the shop had simply failed to fulfil its purpose to him. 

There was a sign on the door, but it only confirmed everything that Chizuru could have guessed. The owner was elderly. She lived alone. She passed away due to unforeseen circumstances, quietly. She had no one to take over the business. It was all very clinical, professional, and apologetic. There was no heart to the wording. The letter was written by the owner of the shopping arcade; he probably barely even knew the woman. 

Chizuru wasn’t sad. He wasn’t bitter or angry or even upset that he couldn’t get his fix. He was just  _ empty _ . Just like the shop laid out before him. She had wanted her children to walk their own path, and they did. And in the process they turned away from the store and from their own family. And in the end, all that was left was an empty broken-down building with a brightly colored sign over it, destined to wash away from neglect.

 She always talked about finding the thing that made your heart full, even if your wallet wasn’t. Chizuru thought those words were inane. He still did, to an extent. But now, his heart was completely stranded between two paths. His stomach rumbled. He had eaten nothing but sugar all day. It had been nice, but in the end it was just a distraction and a quick fix to a much bigger problem. 

His stomach, like his heart, was empty and unsatisfied. And he realized, staring at an unsympathetic paper taped to a darkened door, that he was the only one who could fill it. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah yes the "almost but not quite" interrupted kiss. Finally I have fulfilled all my obligations as a slow-burn writer.


End file.
